Where Butterflies Never Die
by Rabidnar
Summary: When Thirteen's self-destruction causes her to mess up on a patient, House assigns her to a very different kind of case. Eventually Cadley.
1. Utilize Surrendering

I wrote this for NaNoWriMo. It's still in the early processes of being read over by two AMAZING betas and I'm in college, so I'm not sure how quickly I'll be updating. I was impatient to start posting it though. Ha.

It starts back sometime after Thirteen finds out she has Huntington's. After messing up on a patient, House decides to assign her to a very different sort of case. Eventually Cameron/Thirteen. =]

**Disclaimer: **I don't own House or any of its characters, no matter how much I wish I did. The story Thirteen tells is heavily scripted from The Fall, which I also do not own.

- I based this greatly on the movie The Fall. You don't have to have seen the movie to understand. It might be more interesting if you haven't seen it actually, but it doesn't matter either way.

* * *

"If this has anything to do with who made the mistake, I don't care." House let Cuddy's office door shut behind him after he made his way inside. "If it has to do with me making a mistake, I really don't care." He didn't walk more than a foot or so inside, leaning on his cane for support as he stood there. "So can I leave?"

Cuddy glanced up from some paper work and put her pen down on her desk. She narrowed her eyes at him and sighed. "You were supposed to be in my office twenty minutes ago. Sit down."

"That's odd." House walked over and took a seat. He propped his cane up against the chair. "I had no intention of being in your office twenty minutes ago. Can we get this lecture over with, because - well, I guess I don't have anything better to do. Take your time."

"A patient died today, because you -" Cuddy started, but House interrupted her.

"Wrong, a patient died today because of Thirteen. It had nothing to do with me, really. I was in my office napping." He tilted the chair back for a moment then leaned forward.

"And if you had been awake, you would have seen she was hung over and in no condition to even be in the same room with a patient, let alone working on one." She picked her pen back up and tapped it on the desk a few times. "You should have been paying attention."

"She shouldn't have been hung over. Why are you giving me a lecture? Shouldn't she be the one you're -" House frowned as Cuddy cut him off.

"You can lecture her and deal with her however you like. Fire her if you want. I'm lecturing you because you need to start paying more attention to things other than yourself. Why were you sleeping in your office anyway?"

"I had three reasons," House answered.

"Good ones?" Cuddy grabbed the papers she had been writing on and continued jotting down notes for a meeting. "Well?" She glanced up at him for a brief moment.

"Well, let's see in a minute," House answered. "I'm just making them up now." He paused and glanced around her office then stared at the ceiling for a moment. "One: I was tired. Two: I was bored. Three: I wanted to dream about you not having any clothes on."

"House!" Cuddy scolded and dropped her pen on the paper.

"Which brings me to the fourth reason," House continued, pleased that he could bother her so quickly.

She sighed. "I thought you said there were only three." Hearing the first three had been bad enough. This conversation was going nowhere and fast.

"I thought you'd accept one of them," House answered. He got to his feet. "Now that we've both decided I need to go make Thirteen pay for her crimes, I should probably go do that."

"Not so fast." Cuddy stood and grabbed a sticky note from her desk. "She's not going to be the only one 'paying for her crimes', you -"

"That phrase only sounds cool coming from me," House informed her. "Plus, last time I checked, sleeping wasn't a crime. Maybe I should check again. Do you think Google would give me a list of things I shouldn't -"

"You are also going to be doing a little extra something." She handed him the note.

House looked it over. "It has a room number on it. I don't even know whose room this is."

"You should. He's your patient." Cuddy crossed her arms. "His parent's left and it doesn't look like they're coming back. Not only will you be treating him, you'll also be keeping him company a few hours a week until…just go do it."

"Huh." House glanced down at the room number again. "You want me to socialize with a dying patient?"

"Maybe it'll teach you to care about someone other than yourself." She returned to her seat and leaned back, waiting for him to try a hundred ways to get out of it.

"You're right." House looked up at her, keeping a straight face.

She looked stunned. "I am?" She quickly tried to cover her question. "I am. Now leave."

"My pleasure." House turned and left her office. He rolled his eyes and crumpled the piece of paper once he was sure he was out of sight. Like hell he'd waste his time to sit at some dying kid's side. It wasn't like it would mean anything to the kid after he died anyway.

He limped down the hall slowly, not really too interested in dealing with Thirteen, who he knew was in there waiting for him. He had told her to be there at the exact moment he was leaving to go see Cuddy. He hoped giving her a few minutes waiting in agony would be torture and she would seriously consider what she had done. Maybe she could give him an answer, because he sure as hell didn't know what had convinced her she was alright to treat someone when she was obviously exhausted and not paying attention to anything around her.

He pushed his door open to find her standing in front of his desk. One of her hands was tapping the wood and the other was trembling as she studied it. He cleared his throat and watched her quickly shove the trembling hand in her pocket.

"House…"

"Shut up. I don't want to hear your excuses." He walked over to his desk and took a seat. His eyes narrowed as Thirteen also sat down. "Get up. If you sit, I feel like you'll be here longer than five minutes. You wouldn't even be in here five seconds if it was up to me, but Cuddy thinks I should talk to you."

Thirteen got to her feet, gluing her eyes to his desk. She bit back the urge to ask him when he started listening to what Cuddy wanted from him. She knew she was in no position to say anything. If she had, the first thing she would have asked was if he was going to fire her. She knew she deserved to pack her things and leave.

"I should fire you." House almost confirmed her fears, but he continued speaking. "But instead, I have something better." He uncrumpled the piece of paper in his hand and glanced at it before handing it over. Once she took it from him, he leaned back in his chair.

"What is this?" Thirteen smoothed out the yellow sticky note and read over the number. She looked up at him in confusion then down at his new task for her again.

"It's your new case," House answered.

"You're putting me on another case?" Thirteen raised an eyebrow in confusion. "I figured you'd keep me as far away from the patients in this hospital as possible."

"Trust me, this will be the only patient you're going to be around," House answered. "And you won't be doing any medical procedure on him at all, got it?"

"Well, then what am I going to do? Read him bedtime stories?" Thirteen asked sarcastically. She placed the paper in her pocket and stared at him.

"Well, that would be fitting," House answered. "Go there and wait outside. And when I say wait outside, I mean do it in silence. Until you can stop wallowing in self-pity by destructing with alcohol and whatever else you're doing, this is what you're going to be doing. I'll meet you there after I run a little errand." He lifted his hand and shooed her from the room.

"I'll probably be waiting out there thirty minutes," Thirteen muttered as she spun around and began heading out the door.

"Your silence started after I said the word 'errand'," House informed her. "Now go."

She wanted to tell him she was already going. Instead, she bit down on her tongue and walked a bit faster - holding her head high with confidence. Once outside his office, her eyes dropped to the ground and her shoulders slumped. She bitterly dragged her feet across the floor, fighting the urge to mutter under her breath. If she spoke, she knew it would somehow get back to him. House had a way of finding out everything. Not watching where she was going, she half ran into someone walking down the opposite way down the hall.

"Sorry," Cameron apologized quickly. "I wasn't looking and…" Her voice trailed off when Thirteen glanced at her but just continued walking. "Huh." Cameron rubbed her shoulder and continued on her way to House's office, pausing when she got to the doorway. "You paged me."

"Your shirt is rather low today," House commented.

Cameron's cheeks turned a slight shade of pink and she tugged at the shoulders of her sleeves to pull up her shirt. "You paged me to tell me my shirt was too low?"

"What?" House asked. "No. I thought we were stating the obvious. Don't pull it up. I like it that way." He smiled and stood up. "I have a case you might be interested in."

"I don't work for you anymore," Cameron reminded him. She subconsciously tugged her shirt up once again and watched as he walked toward her. "Why do you think I might be interested?"

"Walk with me," House answered and linked arms with her. "Think we should skip? We could do a re-enactment of The Wizard of Oz. Might be a little challenging with my cane though…"

"House," Cameron said unsurely. She walked beside him, not unlinking their arms. "I have the ER to take care of. I don't have time to take over the cases you just don't feel like dealing with."

"Oh, this isn't my case," House assured her. "It belongs to Thirteen."

"You mean Dr. Hadley?" Cameron asked, coming to a stop. "You want me to work with Dr. Hadley?"

"You have a problem working with bisexuals?" House questioned, smirking.

"Dr. Hadley is…What?" Cameron stammered. "No, it's not that." She glanced around, noticing Thirteen several feet away fidgeting and hovering outside a patient's room.

"Great then!" House exclaimed. "I know you like broken people and so this will be like…double the fun for you. You get Thirteen and a dying patient. I just need you to make sure she doesn't screw things up."

"So, you want me to baby-sit her?" Cameron double checked. She looked at Thirteen unsurely then glanced up at House.

"Precisely," House nodded.

"But why?" Cameron asked. "She's a grown -"

"Because I just said I don't want her to screw up," House snapped. If Thirteen screwed up, Cuddy would find out and he would be in deep trouble. "Just stand in the doorway and watch her. She's just there to keep the stupid kid company until he kicks the bucket. If she looks like she's going to do something that could get her or more specifically me into trouble, stop her. Make sure she doesn't upset the dying kid. Capiche?"

Cameron looked into his eyes for a moment but he quickly stared her down. She looked at her hands then nodded. "I'll try."

"Good." House patted her shoulder. "Stay here for a moment." He tapped her ankle with his cane then made his way over to Thirteen, noting how pathetic she looked trying to hide that she was nervous.

"You glance inside?" He stopped by Thirteen and peered into the room.

"There's just a boy in there." Thirteen didn't bother to look in, instead lifting her head and keeping her eyes on the wall in front of her.

"Exactly," House answered. "Just some lonely kid. The parents left once they found out he had virtually no hope of surviving and probably won't be back." He thought he almost saw a flash of sympathy on Thirteen's face. If she had felt anything, it was quickly hidden by a blank look. "So, what you're going to do is keep him content until he dies. Maybe it'll teach you to think about someone other than yourself for once." Huh, that last line sounded familiar. He shrugged it off. "Spending time with a dying patient who is a hell of a lot worse off than you are could make you respect your life and the lives of the ones around you a little bit more."

"You can't make me do this. I don't know anything about kids," Thirteen snapped, narrowing her eyes at him. "You should have just fired me when -"

"Read him a story. Sing him a lullaby. Buy the kid a matchbox car, for God's sake," House snapped back. "Alexander!" He called in false cheerfulness. He grabbed Thirteen by the arm and pulled her into the boy's view. The kid stared at them with a wavering smile. "This is Dr. Hadley. She's going to keep you company for awhile. If you're lucky, maybe she'll tell you a story."

Thirteen's breath hitched in her throat as the boy's eyes lit up at the mention of her telling him a story. She studied him. He couldn't have been more than five or six years old. He was smiling, but there was a pain that she easily could recognize in his eyes. "I don't know any stories," she whispered to House. She felt defeated just by looking at the kid, but wasn't about to give in so easily.

"Well make one up," House answered. He let go of her arm and gave her a small nudge inside the door.

Thirteen turned to him. "Why are you doing this?" She asked. "You could just take me into your office and give me some long lecture about how Huntington's shouldn't lead me down a path of self-destruction and I should be treasuring the life I have and…"

"Oh, look, you just lectured yourself and saved me from the trouble." House nodded. "I'm supposed to be teaching you. If I can do that without dealing with you, then more power to me. Stop being such a coward. It's a kid, not a five-hundred pound bull about to charge at you. Grow up and do your job."

After watching him walk off, Thirteen drew in a breath. Plastering a false smile on her face, she turned and faced the boy. He was staring at her rather intently. It was almost painful to know he was dying yet still see such a smile on his face. His two front teeth were missing and it made him look rather comical. "I'm Dr. Hadley." Thirteen grabbed a chair from beside the door and pulled it over to his bedside. "Your name is Alexander, right?" She sat down.

"Yeah." He nodded his head with enthusiasm. "But you can call me Alex." He stretched out his arm to shake her hand. "Are you gonna tell me a story?"

Thirteen sat motionless for a moment then carefully took his small hand in her own. "I uh…" She let go of his hand and rubbed the bridge of her nose. His name suddenly hit her. She flashed back to a movie she had seen several times - The Fall. "You know, you might be named after Alexander The Great," she stated. "What do you think of that?"

"Alexander The Great?" Alex repeated, tilting his head to the side. "Who is that?"

"He's the greatest warrior that ever lived," Thirteen answered. She leaned forward, resting her elbows on the side of his bed. "I have a story about him. He was lost and all alone. He had been separated from his people and couldn't get back to them. He almost died."

"Do you want to see a picture?" Alex asked. He pulled a photograph from beneath his blanket and sat up a little more to scoot closer to Thirteen. "Here look."

Thirteen sat up a little straighter and glanced down at the picture. "Is that your family?"

"Yeah." Alex nodded. His hair fell in front of his eyes and he pushed it away. "This is my mom and my dad," he said as he pointed to each one. "And this is me. And this is my dog - Old Man Boris." He rubbed his thumb over the image of the fuzzy terrier. "They found out I was sick and gonna die, so they left me here and went away."

Having been smiling as he spoke of his dog, Thirteen's face went back to being emotionless as he told her about his parents. "I'm sorry to hear that," she commented.

"Hm?" Alex looked up at her.

"I said, I'm sorry to hear that," Thirteen repeated, trying not to look him in the eye.

"They didn't want me." Alex sounded almost confused.

"Yeah, I know." She began to wonder what she had gotten herself into and almost wished House had simply fired her. "I said I'm sorry they didn't want you." There was an awkward silence, but she had a feeling it was one-sided. The boy didn't look at all uncomfortable. "Are you scared of dying?" Right after the words came out, she scolded herself. What kind of question was that? Of course the boy was scared of -.

"No," Alex answered. He shook his head confidently. "I was when I found out. But I'm not anymore. I'm a big boy." He settled back against his pillows and hugged a ratty, old stuffed elephant to his chest. "Why didn't Alexander go from the buildings on his horse? If he was lost, why didn't he go from the buildings - that middle of the buildings on his horse?"

After a moment of confusion, Thirteen shook her head. "First of all, he didn't have a horse 'cause his horse was killed in a battle. And he wasn't in the middle of any old buildings."

_Alexander the Great slid off his black horse onto the stone ground beneath them. He patted the animal on the side then watched as it galloped off into the distance. The ruins of the old buildings began to fade and were quickly replaced by a vast desert full of high hills and orange sand. He ran his tongue over his parched lips and looked at the handful of men that were with him. "How much water do we have left?" He straightened his gold-colored, metal armor that covered the top of his chest and turned to the nearest man._

_"We have none." The other warrior uncapped his canteen and turned it over. A few drops fell to the ground. The group of men around them began to whisper among themselves in worried tones. Alexander stayed calm and adjusted the red feather on his head piece._

_"Look!" One of the warriors a few feet off to the side shouted. When the rest of the man glanced at him, he pointed his finger to someone on a horse. The horse galloped down a large dune of sand, carrying the man toward them. They waited impatiently, suddenly filled with hope that salvation had come._

_The man rode up to them until his horse was aligned with Alexander. He made no motion to get off his horse but instead handed his helmet down to the men, carefully trying not to spill the water inside._

_Alexander took the helmet and stared at his reflection in the water that it held. He looked back up at the warrior on the horse as the man pulled a letter from his pocket._

_"This is the last of our supply," The man stated as he unfolded the piece of paper. He glanced down and scanned the words before beginning to read. "All hope is lost. Our army will not be conquered by the Persians as we once fears. Instead, we will die because of our own greed and gluttony for water. This helmet contains the last of what we have. We trust that your wisdom will save us all." He folded up the paper and looked at the helmet of water._

_Alexander glanced at them all then slowly turned the helmet over and let the water run to the ground._

"Why?" Alex interrupted her. He stared at her with wide eyes, clutching his blanket.

"What?" Thirteen glanced up at him. She was leaning forward with her elbows on the bed and her head in her hands.

"Why?" He repeated a bit more slowly.

"Because there wasn't enough for all of them," Thirteen explained.

"Hm?" He shook his head and looked confused.

"Alexander the Great was showing his army they were all equal," she replied, wondering how to get him to understand.

"That's stupid." He let go of his blanket and crossed his arms tightly over his chest.

She sighed. "Yeah? Well, what would you have done better?"

"Alexander the Great should have - he should have gived everyone a - just a little bit, Dummy." He lifted his hand and held his fingers to show her how much water Alexander the Great should have given to his army.

"Dummy?" Thirteen mouthed, glancing away from him. She shook her head.

"Yeah, don't be a dummy, Dr. Hadley." Cameron grinned as she leaned against the doorway. "Alexander should have given everybody just a little bit and they all would have had some."

Thirteen's head snapped up and she spun around as Cameron spoke. She rubbed her legs with her hands, wondering how long the other doctor had been standing there listening. Trying to hide a bit of self-consciousness, she slowly turned to face the boy again. "Listen," she said. She lowered her voice to where she hoped Cameron couldn't hear her. "I'll be back tomorrow and I'll tell you a different story. An epic tale of love and revenge. You know what epic means?"

Alex shook his head eagerly. "No."

"It means a really long story," Thirteen explained. "It'll be set in…" She had to pause to think. "It'll take place in India, okay?" When he nodded, she got to her feet then patted his shoulder. "I'll see you tomorrow." She could feel the kid staring at her as she walked out of the room and past Cameron.

Cameron followed quickly behind her. "This is really nice of you," she commented with a smile. "That was a good story."

"I stole it from a movie," Thirteen replied in a cold voice, trying to make Cameron be a little less happy about what she was doing.

"It was still nice." Her smile didn't fade. "And a good story," she added. She came to a stop, but Thirteen kept walking. "Hey, do you want to get dinner tonight if you're coming back to tell more?"

Butterflies begin to flutter in Thirteen's stomach and she wasn't sure why. She paused and turned her head. "Sorry. I'm not coming back later." She made an obvious forced smile and shook her head then turned and continued walking. The uneasiness in her stomach was an odd feeling and not one she expected to get just from talking to Dr. Cameron. She barely knew the woman. For a moment, she considered taking her up on her offer, but quickly changed her mind.

"Nice of you to grace us with your presence," House commented as Thirteen entered the room and joined the rest of the diagnostic team. "How is your new mission going?"

She shot him a look and took a seat beside Foreman. For a moment, the words 'shut up' almost came from her mouth, but she managed to hold back. "So you're still letting me sit in and listen?"

"It's not like you have anything better to do." House grabbed the whiteboard and pulled it closer to the table. He uncapped a blank dry-erase marker and wrote the words 'LEFT LANE CLOSED' on the top. He began to write words under the heading and repeat them out loud. "Loud. Annoying. 2AM."

"What the hell is this?" Foreman spoke what everyone else was thinking. They all had their heads tilted to the side as they stared in confusion.

"A new band," House replied. "They decided to move in next door to my house. I need to figure out how to get them to shut up."

"How is this medically relevant?" Kutner questioned. He leaned forward and rested his hands on the table.

"It isn't. Now shut up and give me some ideas." House tapped the whiteboard and frowned.

Thirteen almost enjoyed the idea of a while without working until she realized how boring it was. Everything she said was immediately shot down by House and contact with any patient what-so-ever was completely out of the question. Yet, she couldn't leave the hospital. Wanting to spend as little time with her new 'mission' as possible, she fell asleep on the couch in the doctor's lounge until her shift was over.

A bowl of cheerios seemed rather disappointing as she thought about how Cameron had asked her to get dinner. Once home, Thirteen grabbed the remote and turned on the TV then sat down with her food. After eating a few bites, she let the spoon in her mouth and hit the channel button on the remote a few times trying to find something that would hold her interest until she was exhausted enough to go to bed. She regretted spending her day fast asleep because now she was positive she wouldn't be tired for the rest of the night.

Propping her feet up on the coffee table, she leaned her head back against the couch and removed the spoon from her mouth. In order to get back to work, she knew she was going to need to prove to House that she wasn't self-destructing. Her hand trembled and her spoon fell from it and into the bowl. Fortunately, she hadn't spilled any of the cereal. Closing her eyes, she let out a breath. "There has to be something interesting in your house to do, Remy," she told herself quietly. "God, now I'm talking to myself." Frowning, she clamped her mouth shut and opened her eyes again. It was useless.

It took maybe twenty minutes for her to put the full bowl of cereal in the sink then put on some clothes that were decent to go out in. A white shirt with a black jacket and matching black dress pants were enough to look trendy but not slutty. It was almost a way to ease her mind and take away the guilt of picking up random women to bring home and have sex with.

"Hey there." The guy behind the counter at the bar grinned as her as she walked in. "Almost didn't expect to see you tonight. It might have thrown off my entire night." His eyes traveled Thirteen's body for a moment. "The usual?"

Thirteen felt distracted and almost didn't realize he was speaking to her as she walked over. "Huh? Oh. Yeah." She pursed her lips together and gave a quick nod. "Anyone interesting here tonight?" By interesting, she meant anyone she might find attractive. The guy had worked there long enough to know the kind of women she tended to go after.

"Right over there." He nodded to another brunette dancing off toward the corner and set Thirteen's drink down on the counter. "You doing okay?"

"Just fine." She picked up her drink and downed it in a few swallows then put the empty glass down, paid, then half walked - half danced over to the other woman. Within a few seconds they were dancing with their bodies pressed against each other.


	2. Straight Into The Mouth Of The Unknown

**Anonymousow: **I'm glad you like it and find it funny.  
**Katchel: **Hopefully it ends up as good as you think it could be.  
**Amazon Life:** I hope it'll meet your expectation.  
**Nameless:** That Fall is so amazing, huh? =D I've watched it like...a billion times and cry every single time. Ha.  
**ldfakmn:** Glad you like it so far!

Thanks for reviewing, Guys! =]

* * *

Thirteen woke in her own bed with an empty space beside her. Groaning and squinting her eyes against the sunlight that streamed through the window, she slowly lifted her head. Pain hit her like someone took a baseball bat to her forehead. With a sigh, she dropped her head back down to her pillow and reached her arm out to the side. Her hand brushed fabric of a different texture than her blanket and she turned and glanced at it. Gripping the blue tank top, she momentarily wondered how girls always managed to forget their clothes. What did they do, go home shirtless?

Tossing the shirt off to the side, she lifted her head once more and ran her fingers through her hair. The fact that she always woke up alone no matter what girl she brought home almost made her heart ache. Almost. Waking up to some random girl from the bar could end up very awkward. Turning her head, she glanced at her clock. 9:42. "Shit." She was supposed to be at the hospital by nine. Ignoring her hangover as best as she could, she jumped out of bed and grabbed clothes from a pile she hoped was clean.

It was a good debate over whether or not she had time for a shower. Obviously, she didn't, but she knew she reeked of liquor and cigarette smoke. It had to be bad when she could even smell it on herself. She tossed her clothes into a random corner and turned the shower faucet to relatively hot, giving it a second to warm up. Soap and shampoo lined the shower shelves - not because she was really into that stuff, but sometimes it took more than one to get rid of the smell from the clubs and bars. It took washing her body three times and her hair twice until she was satisfied no one was going to get too close and realize where she had been all night long.

The water almost scalded her skin and, in a way, she thought it as punishment for the night before. Being comfortable was too much of a luxury, but being uncomfortable made her feel alive. That and it woke her up almost as much as freezing water would have. Unfortunately, cold water didn't take away the slightly dirty feeling she got from the girls she slept with. Hot water almost took it away, but not completely. The water didn't turn off until a razor blade was grabbed from one of the shelves and a few cuts across the arm were enough to distract her from whatever feelings she may have had. Feelings were overrated anyway.

A long sleeved shirt and her lab jacket covered up the cuts on her wrist, but not even makeup could cover the dark circles under her eyes as she dragged herself into work. Passing Cameron in the hall, she tried to ignore the disapproving look she received from her. Thinking Cameron may have been disappointed in her began to make her disappointed in herself. She quickly scolded herself and reminded her she didn't give a care about anything Cameron thought.

"Look what Dr. Cameron bought me!" Alex bounced on the hospital bed as Thirteen walked into his room. He held up a fuzzy looking Pirates of the Caribbean blanket and showed it off to her. "Do you watch Pirates of the Caribbean?" He shifted a bit and watched her sit down beside his bed then tilted his head to the side. "Do you watch Pirates of the Caribbean?" he repeated.

Muffling a yawn with her hand, Thirteen nodded her head. "I've seen the first one once or twice. I think I might have seen a bit of the third one too."

Alex seemed satisfied with her answer. "Will you tell me the story now?" He wrapped the blanket around himself and rolled onto his side so he was facing her.

Thirteen looked confused for a moment. "What story?"

"The epic, Dr. Hadley!" Alex reminded her.

"Oh, yeah." She nodded. "Alright. Alright, close your eyes." She pushed her hair from her face and watched him as he quickly clamped his eyes shut. "What do you see?"

He paused for a moment then shrugged. "Nothing."

"Rub them," Thirteen suggested. "Do you see the stars?" From the corner of her eye, she could see Cameron standing by the door - also rubbing her closed eyes. She wanted to think it was pathetic, but in a way it was almost a bit cute.

"Yes." Alex's answer snapped Thirteen's attention back over to him and the story.

_It was nighttime and the dark, clear sky was full of stars. Four people stood on a small island that was surrounded by a calm sea. The calmness was deceptive though. For at that moment, an Indian named Kutner with a bandaged thigh swam toward the island. He finally made it to land and crawled upon the sand then stood up._

"_Tell me, Indian, is it true?" A dark skinned man who had been facing the opposite direction turned to face him._

_Kutner nodded mutely._

"_Foreman, is what true?" A woman adjusted her red mask on her face then turned to face the men. "What are we talking about?"_

"_Governor House will execute your twin sister tomorrow morning. I'm so sorry, Remy." Foreman bowed his head apologetically then turned away._

"_My poor twin," Remy murmured._

_The sun came up the next morning and Remy slid her knife into her belt loop. In all, there were five of them. They had only one thing in common: a hatred of Governor House. _

_The first was an ex-slave that Governor House had made sure to overwork. Wilson stood beside his brother in a field of wheat and cattle, surrounded by other slaves. They tightened their grip on the rope as they wished they had never been born into slavery and pulled a cart of wheat across the field. Sometimes it felt to Wilson as if his existence was only there to satisfy whatever Governor House wanted him to do. They pulled the cart harder and walked for several moments before Wilson's brother collapsed to the ground._

_Wilson was quick to react. He cried out and grabbed the knife used to cut the crops and slammed it down on the chains that held him and his brother to the cart. Once free, he knelt down beside his brother and checked his pulse. There was none. Tears filled his eyes and he leapt to his feet. It was only a few moments before he made a torch and set fire to the entire field. While the other slaves began to run free, he covered his eyes and cried out in heartbrokenness over his brother's death. He swore he'd be responsible for Governor House's death._

"I like him," Alex stated.

_Then there was the Indian, Kutner. He had a habit of stroking his brow when he was nervous. Kutner was married to the most beautiful squall in the land. Nobody had ever seen her though because she wore a cloak. _

_The young woman walked from the well to her house, carrying a bucket of water in her arms. Governor House approached her dressed in disguise as a leper. He had only wanted to find out some secrets about her husband, but when he saw her reflection in the water, he was absolutely smitten._

_Kutner stroked his brow as he guarded the wigwam overnight to protect his beautiful wife. The exhaustion was too much for him to bear. Soon, he found himself asleep. When he woke up, one of the doors to his home was open. He rushed inside but found it completely empty. His wife had been kidnapped by the evil Governor House._

_The squall refused to show herself to House, so he threw her into the labyrinth of despair. House was a man of very little patience. She ran through the labyrinth - up and down all the stairs until she was exhausted, her bare feet rubbed raw and bleeding as she trudged on. She soon realized there was only one way out. Bloody footprints trailed behind her as she climbed the stairs to the top of the highest tower then threw herself off the ledge. _

_When Kutner found her body, he took a blood oath never to look at another woman ever again. He swore that he would be responsible for Governor House's death._

"I like him too," Alex informed her.

_Foreman was an explosives expert. He built a bomb that exploded the entire side of a mountain. When House heard about the power of Foreman's bombs, he felt threatened. He had him publicly banished. When Foreman returned to his city, everyone ran in their houses and hid. Even speaking to him was punishable by death and the people were afraid. Even his priest refused to hear his confession and grant him forgiveness so others could speak to him again. Foreman swore he would be responsible for Governor House's death._

_Next was the English naturalist Chase._

This seemed to catch Cameron's attention. She fidgeted in the doorway and looked down at her hands then across the room.

Thirteen pretended not to notice. She cleared her throat and continued, pulling at a lose string on the hospital blanket as she spoke.

_Chase loved all living things. He loved creatures and plants and everything that was alive. He was also always accompanied by his shy, brilliant colleague Wallace the monkey. The two were best friends, but Chase always tended to take credit for what Wallace said and pretend he knew more. For instance, as they were watching pink flamingos in a lake, Wallace explained why Flamingos were pink. Chase told him he already knew that, even though he hadn't. Despite that, they were both very intelligent and developed many theories together. They were still looking for something though._

"A butterfly?" Alex suggested, hugging his blanket tighter. He smiled and batted his eyelashes at Thirteen.

She laughed quietly and nodded. "That's a good guess. A very specific butterfly called Americana Exotica."

_Chase and Wallace walked through the woods together and approached their home. On the porch in front of their door, there was a box. The two approached it and looked it over. It was labeled 'Americana Exotica'. Feeling a rush of excitement, Chase opened the wooden lid and looked inside. Governor House had sent them a dead one. Chase dropped to his knees and buried his face in his hands. He swore he would kill Governor House._

"Butterfly Reef," Thirteen said.

Alex was silent for a moment. "Is Governor House a mean man?" he questioned. "Like Dr. House? He's kinda grumpy."

She nodded. "Oh, yeah. Very mean. Butterfly Reef was where Governor House decided to banish the heroes. It was called Butterfly Reef because the island was surrounded by a reef that caused the water to be lighter and in the shape of a butterfly. He sent them there to mock them. He hoped that in their fight for survival, they would end up devouring each other. So the buccaneers were trapped on the island."

"What's a buccaneer?" Alex asked.

Thirteen began to wonder why kids had to ask so many questions. If he wanted a story, he was going to have to be quiet so he could hear it. She answered him anyway because Cameron was listening in the doorway. "Well, it's like a pirate. Pirate and buccaneer…it's like the same thing."

"I don't like pirates," Alex complained. He stuck out his lower lip in a pout.

Crossing her arms, she leaned back against her chair. "You're the one who asked for a pirate story."

"Nu uh." He shook his head and frowned.

"Yes, you did," she argued. Her head ached and she was quickly becoming exasperated. Feeling Cameron's eyes on her, she was also starting to get nervous. What if she wasn't saying the right things? She rationalized she felt this way because it was Cameron who could easily tell House if she messed up, not because she cared what the cute, blond doctor thought. Realizing she thought of Cameron as cute, she almost hit herself in the forehead. She figured smacking herself with a headache wouldn't be the best idea.

"Nu uh," Alex argued back. "I just wanted to know if you watched Pirates of the Caribbean."

Thirteen tilted her head to the side and dropped her hands to her lap. "Why?"

"Because Dr. Cameron got me a really cool blanket and I just - I just wanted to know." He stated it as if she should have already known the answer.

"Okay then." She sighed and closed her eyes for a moment. "Well, it's not a pirate story. It's a story about bandits."

_The bandits couldn't have possibly been pirates. The masked hero Remy didn't even know how to swim. She stood at the end of the island and looked out at the miles of clear, blue ocean water. "I need to learn to swim," she stated. Very little was known about her, except that she and her twin sister, the Blue Bandit, had both escaped execution from the Spanish Governor House. Their chances of survival were much better apart. They swore they would kill Governor House then Remy rode forward on her horse and the Blue Bandit jumped off the side of a bridge to go into another direction._

_Remy suggested that they make a plan to get off the island to rescue her twin, who Governor House had re-captured. Foreman huffed and Chase began to go through his box of items he had been collecting. Wallace was resting inside Chase's bag when he heard Remy say that they needed an idea. He motioned Chase to listen to him then told him about how elephants could swim._

"_All elephants?" Chase whispered to him. He could suddenly hear elephants in the distance. Wallace nodded and Chase exclaimed the idea. The bandits motioned the elephants to shore and climbed on._

"_This was an excellent idea!" Remy complimented Chase from on top one of the elephants. The bandits that did know how to swim had jumped off the elephants and were swimming gracefully toward land. A few of them were even doing cheerful somersaults under the water._

"_Land!" Remy cried as the elephants dropped them off. She kissed the sand then realized that was a bad idea and had to wipe her lips and tongue off on her shirt sleeve. Sand was gross when it got in your mouth. "You're brilliant!" She exclaimed to Chase. "Where do you get your ideas?!"_

_Chase didn't answer. _

_The bandits gathered their things then began to walk across a short peninsula. In front of them was a giant tree that looked as if it had been scorched in a fire. It began to smoke and make crackling noises. The bandits all stopped and stared at it._

"_What's going on?" Remy whispered to Kutner. He only shrugged and stared._

_The tree burst into flames that burned for about twenty seconds before dying out. After more crackling noises, a woman broke free from inside the tree. She began to speak in gibberish._

"_I think she's gone mad from torture from Governor House," Remy suggested._

"_It's not true," Chase answered, listening intently to the woman. "She says she's a mystic. Her name is Cuddy and she's come to help us get revenge on Governor House! She says that this region was once a lush forest filled with birds and sacred trees, but Governor House burned everything down. She says our mission will be hard and only the fittest of us will manage to survive."_

"_We have no use for a mystic," Remy said. "Tell her that. She is right that our mission will be dangerous. She will only slow us down though."_

_Chase motioned for Cuddy to leave. _

_As they spoke to the mystic, Wilson had wandered a few feet away. He hovered above the water for a moment with his bow and arrow then shot downward. With a grin on his face, he pulled the arrow out of the water. There was a fish on the end of it. "I have an idea!" he called to the rest of them._

_Wilson caught a few more fish. He put his bow and arrow in a basket with his bow and arrow them covered the basket with a small blanket. He and the other bandits walked to the building where Remy's twin sister was being kept prisoner. Once there, they stopped at the bottom of a tall flight of stair that had two guards covered in black, metal armor guarding the door. _

_The bandits hid behind a cart that was at the bottom of the stairs as Wilson began to climb toward the guards. Half way there, he tripped and dropped the basket. The guards noticed the bow and arrows fall from his basket and they rushed toward him. The other bandits pulled out guns and began to shoot at the guards before they could kill Wilson. They killed both guards then Kutner rushed to help Wilson up as the other bandits made a dash for the closing door. Wilson grabbed his strongest arrow and shot it at the door in hopes it would get there just as the door closed and hold it open. Instead, he accidentally almost shot Kutner in the head. He didn't, but unfortunately the arrow only fell to the ground in front of the door._

_Chase knelt in front of the large, wooden door and closed one eye. He looked through the keyhole with his open eye and was a bit frightened by the guards inside. There had to be at least fifty of them. They began to group up and march toward the door when out of nowhere, it was like a tornado began to go through them. Guards were thrown left and right._

"_Stand aside," Foreman said as he held up a bomb. "Before you say ka-boom."_

_Chase pulled out a key he had taken from one of the guards and unlocked the door. He glanced at Foreman, who put out the bomb._

_Guards were still being thrown left and right until they all lay dead on a giant pile. Cuddy climbed from the middle and stood on top of them with one arm in the air - kind of like superman. The bandits slowly walked inside and all stood in a line in front of Cuddy. They bowed their heads._

_Remy was the first to look up. "I am sorry for disrespecting you," she apologized. "Please join us on our mission."_

_Cuddy stepped down to join the group of bandits and they all rushed forward toward the room Remy's twin sister was being held prisoner in._

Cameron was staring at Thirteen intently from her spot beside the door and Thirteen was sure she hadn't blinked within the last five minutes. It was beginning to make her feel awkward. "First, a little break," she said as she stood.

Alex frowned and threw his hands down on the bed. "You can't stop there!" he exclaimed.

"I just want to talk to Dr. Cameron for a moment," Thirteen explained. She glanced over at Cameron then looked at Alex again.

"No." Alex shook his head. "Tell me the story," he demanded. "What happened with the blue bandit?"

Thirteen sighed and patted his leg. "It won't take long. I promise I'll be right back in one moment." She walked to the door and took Cameron by the arm, gently pulling her outside. "Look," she said, trying not to sound angry. "I know House probably sent you to look after me, but I really don't need a babysitter."

Cameron glanced down at the ground. She opened her mouth to say something, but Alex interrupted.

"It's been a moment!" He called. "It's been a moment! It's been a moment! It's been a moment!"

Thirteen glanced in the room and Alex began to giggle. She shot Cameron a look then walked back inside. Cameron returned to her spot in the doorway.

_The bandits ran through the building, but they arrived at Chandelier Hall too late. Governor House had tortured Remy's twin and her crew. He hung them from the ceiling in the form of a Chandelier. Remy's twin was stretched out in the middle with five other bodies curled around her. In total there were six dead and they all spun in a circle on the ceiling._

"That's enough story telling for now." A nurse walked into the room, pushing a cart. "Time to check you over, Alexander."

Alex whined and curled up on his side. "No," he argued, tears stinging his eyes. "I want Dr. Hadley to keep telling me the story."

For a moment, Thirteen considered asking the nurse to leave and come back in an hour. Then again, she was exhausted though and this would be the perfect opportunity to find somewhere to just lay down for awhile. "I'll tell you more of the story later. You need to listen to the nurse." She stood and walked out of the room, glancing at Cameron out of the corner of her eye. She watched to see if she would follow, but Cameron turned and walked silently in a different direction. Thirteen was slightly disappointed.


	3. I Find It Easier To Sit And Stare

**Katchel:** I'm glad you're enjoying the story...er...both stories. =] I enjoyed writing her with Alex. She kept rebelling in my head and trying to escape...but I think she enjoys being with him. Hehe.  
**Foolishgames:** I'm glad you like it. Hope you enjoy the rest of it too!  
**Anonymousow:** Funny thing is...I wasn't even trying to be against Chase when I wrote this. I actually kinda like Chase. -prepares to be attacked by everyone- It was fun to write him as a replacement for Darwin tho. Ha.  
**Kirei28:** I'm glad you like Remy/Alex and the story. =]  
**Nameless: **Oh man...Remy as the Red Bandit = Totally droolworthy! I had such a hard time writing it 'cause I kept getting distracted just daydreaming about how awesome that would be. Bahaha. I'm gonna have nightmares about Chase in that coat after writing this! I'll never look at him or Darwin the same way again.  
**Wesley:** I'm glad you're enjoying it! =D  
**Uh...Person Who Has No Name (LOL): **Isn't Cameron always adorable tho? -giggles-

Ok...So I'm doing this Psych project where I have to break a social norm and get reactions from people. And all I could think of was, "Who breaks social norms better than House?!" So over Thanksgiving break, my brother and I are taking a day where he's going to be House and I'm going to be Thirteen. We're only going to respond to those names and we're going to sit at the kitchen table and play operation while discussing 'cases'. No one in my family will have any idea what in the world we're doing. And if we have time, we're going to spend about an hour doing the same thing in the lobby of my dorm building once I get back to school. I'm so psyched! Haha. We're gonna have a blast.

* * *

The couch in the hospital lounge never had been the best place for falling asleep, which is probably why no one was ever there sleeping on it when Thirteen walked in. It was much better than the backseat of her car though. She turned on the alarm on her phone then collapsed onto the couch cushions, rolling, over onto her stomach. She made sure her phone was by her ear so she would hear the alarm. Cuddy had been announcing for week that there was a meeting to discuss new hospital policies and review some of the old ones. She could definitely kiss her career goodbye now if she managed to miss that. Burying her face against her arm, she closed her eyes and slowly drifted off.

Thoughts of Cameron filled her head. It hadn't been the first time she had a dream about the pretty ER doctor, but it was the first time it sent butterflies back to her stomach and she actually thought something of it. She woke over an hour later with a gasp and quickly began trying to forget the other doctor even existed. Usually, she wouldn't care if her mind continuously wondered on about another woman, but Cameron was different. She worked with Cameron. She had to face her practically everyday.

Her phone hadn't gone off and Thirteen didn't think anything of it until she wondered if she had turned it off vibrate. Grabbing it from where it had fallen on the floor, she glanced at the time. "Damn it." Cuddy, House, or both were going to kill her. After shoving her phone in her pocket, she scrambled to her feet and fast-walked to the room Cuddy had been announcing they were going to meet in.

She stopped outside and looked in through the window. Everyone who had been called to the meeting seemed to already be there and Cuddy was in the front of the room talking about something. She considered no one may notice her absence and it would be better not to go in, but the consequences if someone did notice her absence weren't all that appealing. Trying to be as quiet as possible, she opened the door a crack and slid inside. All the seats near the back were taken and the only open ones were in the front and near the middle. There was no way she was going to walk all the way to the front where Cuddy could obviously take notice to her being late. She walked to the open seat the furthest back and sat down.

A doctor Thirteen didn't know the name of was on one side of her. The man was tapping his pen on his desk and his notepad was full of doodles of ships, swords, and other such things. She smirked in amusement then turned to the person on the other side of her. Her heart nearly dropped from her chest when she realized she had chosen a seat beside Cameron. Maybe walking to the front wouldn't have been such a bad idea anyway. For a moment, she thought Cameron was doodling too, but then she noticed she was taking notes. Of course, Cameron was taking notes. She used the example to try and convince herself the other doctor was nothing but a no good suck up.

Cuddy was giving an overview of some old procedures. What procedures, Thirteen wasn't exactly sure. Paying attention was even harder than she thought it would be. Her eyes kept traveling off to the side and over to Cameron. Worried Cameron was going to notice her staring, she kept trying to force herself to pay attention to what Cuddy was saying.

"Like I said before…" Cuddy turned around and began walking from the front-middle to the very front of the room.

Something hard poked Thirteen in the back. "Ow," she whispered as she spun around. "House?" She glared at him as he smirked and lowered his cane. "What was that for?"

House held up his notepad. In black marker was written, 'You keep staring at the hot piece of ass on your left.' He nodded his head.

Inwardly groaning, Thirteen spun back around so she was facing Cuddy. She pressed her hands to her face and stared forward intently. House's cane jabbed her in the back a bit more forcefully. She tried to ignore him, but it got to a point where he was almost whacking her.

"That really hurts," she spat in a hushed whisper as she turned around once more. "Stop it, House." She reached behind her and rubbed her back where the cane had hit a few times.

"Sorry," House said sarcastically. "I'm bored." He held up his notepad again after he lowered his cane back to the ground. This time it said, 'Thirteen and Cameron sitting in a tree. S-E-X-X-I-N-G.' "It didn't match the song without the double X," he explained.

"That's not even a word, House." Trying not to blush, Thirteen slowly turned around once more. She placed her elbows on her knees and her head in her hands. She should have known this was going to happen the moment Cameron showed up in the door way of Alex's room. With a sigh, she rubbed her eyes with her palms.

"Another late night, Dr. Hadley? During my lecture really isn't the time for you to sleep." Cuddy stood at the front of the room with her hands on her hips, looking disapprovingly at both Thirteen and House.

Thirteen quickly lifted her head. As soon as she looked up, she felt like looking back down again. Most of the people in the room were glancing at her. She could see Dr. Cameron staring at her from out of the corner of her eye and could practically feel House smirking behind her. She muttered an apology, not feeling like being a tattle-tale and explain that House kept poking her. They weren't in kindergarten. Well, maybe House was, but she wasn't. Gluing her eyes to the back of the chair in front of her, she waiting in silence for Cuddy to go on with what she was saying and take the attention off her.

"In this hospital, we…"

Thirteen had managed to tune Cuddy out once again. She tapped her fingers on her leg then slowly turned to Cameron. She felt she owed her an apology for snapping at her about not needing a babysitter. She opened her mouth to speak, but House's cane jabbed her in the back. "What, House?!" she whispered, spinning in her seat to face him.

House winked at her then got to his feet. He walked toward the front of the room where Cuddy had stopped speaking and was just staring at him. "Yo, Dr. Cuddy," he said, walking up to her, trying to look like he was walking cool.

"What are you doing, House?" Cuddy hissed, trying to wave him back to his seat. "Go sit down."

"I'm really happy you're giving this speech," House said loudly. "I'm gonna let you finish, but I have to say Martin Luther King gave a much better speech than this." He turned and smacked his hands dramatically on the podium in the front of the room. "I have a dream that this hospital…!"

"House!" Cuddy exclaimed. She took a deep breath, trying not to get angry until they weren't in a room full of people. "That's enough."

"You heard the woman," House said to everyone else. "This is enough. Hallelujah! Amen! You are dismissed!"

There was whispering among everyone then they slowly began to rise from their seats and walk from the room.

"Wait, no, that's not what I…" Cuddy turned to face House, balling her hands into fists and digging her nails into her palms.

Thirteen was glad that he was at least done embarrassing her - and that she didn't have to sit through another moment of the lecture. Getting to her feet, she turned to face where Cameron had been but she was already leaving. Realizing she was actually going to have to put effort into being nice to Cameron - and wondering why she even wanted to be nice to her- she groaned and walked after her. She tried to ease her way though the groups of doctors that had stopped to chat with each other. "Dr -"

"Cameron!" Another doctor approached Cameron from the side. He was carrying an envelope and grinning.

Recognizing him as someone she often got her patient's blood work from, Thirteen took a step back and leaned against the wall. The man was annoying and reminded her of Santa Clause - not only in personality, but also in looks. Unfortunately, she couldn't hear what they were saying from where she was standing.

Cameron looked up at the doctor with a smile. "Dr. Arnolds. Nice to see you today." She rubbed a hand up and down her arm and glanced at the envelope in his hand.

"And it's always nice to see you, Dr. Cameron." He smiled then followed her gaze to the envelope he was holding. "Oh! I was looking for you. I have your results. I don't know what you expected, but I hope you'll be okay." He handed her the envelope then patted her shoulder. "See you later."

Cameron nodded her head. "You too." She turned the other way and took a few steps before running smack into Chase. The envelope fell to the floor. "Sorry, I wasn't looking where I was…"

"Don't worry about it." Chase knelt down and lifted the envelope up off the floor. He raised his eyebrow at her name on the front. "What's this?" he asked, handing it over.

"Huh?" Cameron blinked then took the envelope. "Oh. Just some results for a patient. I have to go give them to the patient." She forced a smile then walked around him, not looking back as he tried to speak to her again.

Thirteen tried to listen to the conversations but found herself unsuccessful. With a sigh, she turned and almost ran into House. "Jesus!" she exclaimed in shock, taking a few steps back.

"That's a rather strong comparison, don't you think?" House answered. "So you're stalking Dr. Cameron now?"

Thirteen looked flustered for a moment then pulled herself together. "I'm not stalking Dr. Cameron - or anyone for that matter."

"It's just easier to imagine her naked if you're actually staring at her, right?" House tried again.

"I don't like her, okay?" Thirteen replied. "She's annoying. She's pathetic. She cares way too much."

"And she's hot," House added. He continued speaking before Thirteen could reply. "How about you come join the rest of the ducklings?" It came out as more of a demand than a question. "Maybe if you focus on other people's problems, you won't be so focused on mentally undressing Dr. Cameron."

"I haven't been mentally undressing Dr. Cameron," Thirteen whispered. She felt her cheeks get hot - though she wasn't sure if it was from embarrassment or because now she was wondering what Cameron looked like without clothes. Silently scolding herself, she followed House then took a seat beside Kutner.

"Left Lane Closed," House stated, pointing to the whiteboard.

Foreman groaned. "Not this again. Come on, House, don't you have any cases?"

"No," House answered simply. "Now be quiet unless you're giving me suggestions."

"Why don't you just sneak into their basement and turn off all their power?" Thirteen rubbed her thumb and pointer finger on the table, trying to focus. "I mean if you…"

"I said you could join us, not speak," House told her. "Could you step out of the room for a moment?"

Thirteen blinked. "Why?"

"Because you irritate me," House explained. "You're great to look at, but…"

"Going." Thirteen got to her feet and dragged herself from the room. She stood outside fidgeting, unsure of whether or not House wanted her to just leave. He obviously wouldn't have asked her to join if he planned on asking her to leave five seconds later. She ruled that out by reminding herself simply that he was House. She was about to walk away when House walked into the hall and shut the door behind him. "I thought that…"

"I liked your idea," House stated.

She stared at him. "Wait. You liked my idea, but you threw me out…?"

"I threw you out so I could come talk to you but look like I was coming to lecture you." House rolled his eyes and threw his hands in the air. "Ignore the dramatic movements. I think the other ducklings are watching us. Wouldn't want them to get the idea that I'm being nice to you."

"Great. Glad you liked the idea. But how is this being nice to me?" She crossed her arms and raised one of her eyebrows.

"Because you get to come to my house at one AM and help me disconnect their power." House paused for a moment. "I'll even provide coffee. Sounds pretty nice to me."

"Woah." She took a step back. "First of all, I was joking. Second of all, why aren't you asking Foreman or Kutner or anyone else for that matter to help you?"

"Well, asking Foreman to help might make it seem like I'm asking him because it will be dark out and he's black. That would be racist. And, I just don't like Kutner."

"But you like me?"

"No," House answered. "But it was your idea. You lucky duck. Oh, duck - duckling, get it?"

Thirteen rolled her eyes. "I'm not going to help you break into someone's basement and turn off the power to their home. I'm sorry, House, but…"

"If you really want to keep your job, you will," he said.

Her jaw almost dropped. "You can't fire me just because I won't help you with this."

"You're on my probation," House argued. "I can do anything I want. See you at one, Dude. We're going to rock this." He tapped his cane loudly on the ground then walked back inside the room.

* * *

**Reviews make me smile. -wink-**


	4. Forget The World That I Knew

**Ilessthreethanyou: **Well, I had a great time writing their little 'stunt', so hopefully you'll have a great time reading it. It's in the next chapter. =]  
**Anonymousow:** House just wouldn't be House if he wasn't incredibly annoying. Haha. She'll be spending some time with Cameron in the future. =]  
**Nameless:** Glad you enjoyed House annoying Thirteen. I had fun writing it. Lol. She'll definitely be spending some time with Cameron soon. Now that you apparently can't stop thinking of how hot Remy would be as the Red Bandit...I can't either. I watch the movie and I'm like, "Huh...Yeah...Roy should be replaced...as much as I love him." I was playing with photoshop and made her the Red Bandit...and it's my new favorite picture. Baha.  
**Wesley:** You'll find out what's in the envelope. And Cameron is oblivious...for now. -wink- Glad you liked the S-E-X-X-I-N-G part. Haha.  
**Hanam:** I was waiting for someone to pick up on that. Lol. Before I decided what kind of novel I was writing, I was dared to make Kanye show up in my novel...which obviously wouldn't work in this. So House was the next best thing.  
**Kirei28: **-gasp- How can you hate House?! Tho...I do agree about the hating Foreman thing.  
**Ina:** I have that theory too. Hehe.  
**SignedSealedWritten (Chapt 1): **-blush- Thank you. =]

Blah. I always update so fast. -can't help myself!- If you want me to wait longer inbetween posting chapters, just say something.

* * *

"So, how is your time with Alex?" Cuddy asked, stopping House outside her office later that evening. "I haven't heard any complaints."

"Things are great," House answered with an enthusiastic nod. "Kids just love me. I'm having the time of my life."

"Huh." Cuddy bit the inside of her lip and glanced off to the side.

"So we hate each other and I'm counting down the days till he dies," House corrected himself with a straight face.

"That's awful, but it does sound more like you. Yeah, that's better," Cuddy said with a sigh. "I might stop by later. See what Alex thinks of hanging out with you."

"You don't trust me?" House asked.

"Quite frankly, no." Cuddy smiled at him then walked back into her office.

-----

"Hey." Cameron was already standing just outside the Alex's door as Thirteen approached. She bit back her nervousness and stopped beside her with a slight smile. Cameron was slouched against the doorway, having been looking at the floor until Thirteen approached. When she looked up, Thirteen noticed her face was paler than usual and she had dark circles under her eyes.

"Hey, yourself." Despite feeling exhausted, Cameron smiled and stood up a little straighter. "I actually didn't have anything to do for once, so I figured I'd wait for you."

"You could have gone inside." Thirteen felt bad when Cameron looked shocked by that.

"I thought you wouldn't want -" Cameron's voice trailed off as Thirteen interrupted her.

"Have you had dinner yet?" She blurted out. "I mean, I know you asked if I wanted to get dinner with you the other night and I was busy. And I haven't had dinner yet and Alex probably hasn't either, so I was thinking we could go to the cafeteria and bring food up for the three of us." She felt like she was speaking a mile a minute and then realized she must have been talking that fast because Cameron seemed to be taking a moment to process what she was saying.

"I think it'd be a great idea to bring food for the three of us," Cameron commented once she had a chance to take in all the words Thirteen managed to fit into what seemed like a five second time period. "I'm starving."

"Great." Thirteen smiled. "Let's go get it before he sees us and demands I rush inside."

-----

House sighed in relief as the two girls walked away from Alex's room. He rounded the corner and walked inside, sitting down on the side of the boy's bed. "You remember me?"

Alex nodded. "You're Dr. House. I don't like you."

"That's okay," House said. "I don't like you either. But I need you to do me a favor." He held up a chocolate bar and kept it a few inches away from the boy. "You can't tell anyone about it."

Staring at the chocolate, Alex's eyes widened. "Okay, I'll do it," he agreed quickly and reached for the chocolate. "And I won't tell no one." He grabbed the chocolate from House and clutched it tightly then paused. "What do I gotta do?"

"Dr. Cuddy might come in here later," House said. "You remember who that is?" When the kid nodded, he continued. "Good. She's probably going to ask you if I come in here and tell you stories. Obviously, I don't, but you need to tell her that I do. And don't say anything about Dr. Hadley or Dr. Cameron coming in here to visit you. Got it?"

"Got it." Alex nodded. "I can do that."

"Good." House patted the kid's dark hair then stood. "Make up answers to whatever else she asks. But don't make me look bad. And don't tell her I'm mean." He left the room, quickly turning a corner to avoid Cameron and Thirteen as they came back.

-----

"Why does the mean man have three legs?" Alex asked as the two doctors walked into his room.

"Why does the mean man have three legs?" Cameron repeated a bit unsurely. "What mean man?" She handed him a cup of juice then sat down at the end of the bed.

"Dr. House," Alex explained. "The mean man. Why does he have three legs?"

"You mean his cane?" Thirteen asked, grinning. She glanced at Cameron and began laughing.

For a moment, Alex was confused. He started laughing because they were laughing, but his laughs turned into coughs. He dropped his cup of juice. He managed to grab it before most of it had spilled, but he had still made a mess. "Oops," he whispered. His eyes began to tear up.

"Don't cry. It's okay." Cameron picked up the blanket and tossed it on the floor. The nurse could deal with the stain later. "We brought you something to eat."

Thirteen sat down beside Alex and put the food in the middle of the three of them. "Where'd you get the candy bar?"

"It's a secret," Alex whispered. "What happened to the bandit?"

"Oh, okay," Thirteen whispered back. "Eat your dinner and I'll tell you."

_Remy and the rest of the bandits stood before a long, white sheet that was stretched high into the air and held up by two giant wooden pulls. At the bottom, Remy's twin's body was wrapped in the end of the sheet. They were all surrounded by a circle of red boulders. Remy knelt down and placed her hand on part of the sheet that covered her twin. Starting with the space under her hand, the sheet began to soak with blood. _

"_That which has been taken from me can never be replaced," Remy said. "I think of all the joys we had. I could have saved this, but I was too weak. My grief has gone blood red with revenge. I am stronger now. I will search the four corners of this earth and find Governor House and joyously kill him." She stood with one hand held up in an oath and the other hand behind her back. "By the blue bandit's honor, I swear, I will annihilate him and everything that he loves." She pulled off her mask. "I will destroy him!" Her voice echoed through the rocky, treeless mountains. She lowered her voice. "And every Spanish thing…"_

Alex and Cameron both looked at each other. "I thought Remy was Spanish," Alex said. He glanced at Cameron as she nodded in agreement.

Thirteen cleared her throat. "No," she said slowly. "She was…British."

Cameron and Alex raised their eyebrows, but neither of them argued.

_Remy held up her hand in an oath again. "Are you with me?!" she asked the other bandits._

"_We're with you!" The bandits shouted in agreement as they too held up their hands._

_The only problem was, they were struggling to remember which way it was to Governor House's castle. They all stood around and waited as Chase pulled out a map from his box of things. He unfolded it, exposing large holes throughout the map._

"_I told him not to put it in the same box he kept his bugs in," Foreman muttered under his breath._

"_We're lost, aren't we?" Remy asked with a frown._

_Cuddy looked at her then walked toward Chase. She grabbed the map from his hands then jogged a few feet away from him. After glancing at him, she sat down and began to eat the map._

_Chase quickly got to his feet and rushed over to her. "Don't eat that!" he exclaimed. "It's poisonous!" He tried to grab the map from her, but she held it away and began mumbling as she lied down on the dirt ground._

"_What's she saying?" Foreman shouted over to him._

_Chase looked concerned she was eating the map then turned to face Foreman. "She's saying we should follow her to Greener Pastures!" he called back. He tuned to the other bandits as they began shouting back and forth that nothing around them looked green. "Hey!" He yelled as Cuddy got to her feet and began running. "Hey! Slow down!" He took off after her. _

_Foreman turned in the direction the mystic was running and peered down over a cliff. "Huh," he thought out loud. "It is greener down there." At the bottom of the cliff was a beautiful space of green land, full of trees, water, and wildlife. "Let's go!"_

_Cuddy picked up a conch shell off the ground as she ran into a green field. She blew into it._

"_Slow down!" Chase continued to run after her. "The poison will work faster if you run!"_

_Cuddy blew into the shell again then shoved the rest of the map into her mouth. She stopped before several green pyramids that resembled steps._

"_It's poisonous," Chase whispered, coming to an exhausted halt. He leaned forward and placed his hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath. Cuddy collapsed several feet away. Chase glanced up and noticed that instead of hitting the ground, a large group of other mystics rose up out of the dirt and caught her. He gasped in shock as they began to carry her away then he and the other bandits followed them._

_The mystics stripped Cuddy to her bra and underwear. The ones that weren't directly involved in carrying her or undressing her stood back and waved their hands in the air, wiggling their fingers. They placed her on a rock covered with a bright yellow blanket then backed away._

_The bandits stood behind the group. Chase walked to the front of the group and stood beside Cuddy. He grabbed his notebook and pen and looked at the other mystics. They were wearing minimal clothing and completely covered in dirt and mud._

_The oldest male out of the mystics stood in the front of the group. He began to chant in gibberish and the other mystics began to echo him. They began to sway and wave their hands in the air._

_Chase watched them for several minutes then glanced down at Cuddy. "What?" he whispered in disbelief. A black compass appeared in ink in the middle of the woman's chest. The image began to multiply into images of mountains, pyramids, the Great Wall of China, mountains, rivers, deserts, valleys, the Eiffel Tower, and even the Parthenon. He glanced back at the mystics. The mystics had split into two groups behind their leader and continued to chant. He turned back to Cuddy and quickly began copying the map._

_A little bump appeared under Cuddy's skin, almost like a bug in her body. It started with where they were and began to trace in the direction they should go. Her body began to convulse as Chase copied down the directions._

Cameron was staring at Thirteen with her mouth half full of food. She swallowed slowly. "Don't you think this story might be getting too scary for Alex?" she asked slowly.

Thirteen nodded that it might be then took a drink. "You scared, Alex?" she asked after she swallowed.

"Phft," Alex shook his head. "I'm good. I like this story."

"See, he's not scared," Thirteen told Cameron with a smirk. "Don't be such a big baby."

_The bandits found horses and followed the map they had copied down. They traveled across the desert on their horses until they came across a fancy home on wheels being pulled by slaves. There were two guards on either side. Each were on horseback beside each other, carrying guns. The slaves were in two long lines, attached to the home by chains. Each of the four large wheels had slaves inside, pushing the wheels like hamster wheels. The Home had House's flag on it._

_Kutner stopped on top of a sand dune and stroked his brow. The rest of the bandits stopped beside him._

"_We have to free the slaves," Wilson announced. _

"Tell me; can you read?" Thirteen asked Alex. She finished her food then licked her fingers.

Alex sighed and shoved a piece of his chocolate bar in his mouth. "You always stop at the same part," he complained. "When it's the best part." He frowned at her.

"I just wanted to know if you can read," Thirteen said. She turned sideways so she could face him better. "Can you?" she questioned. "Can you read?"

"Yeah." He rolled his eyes.

"What's this?" Thirteen unhooked her nametag from her shirt and showed it to him.

"A nametag," Alex stated. He glanced up at her and raised an eyebrow, causing Cameron to laugh.

Thirteen couldn't help but smile. "That's not what I meant, Mr. State-The-Obvious. What's this?" She pointed to her name.

He stared at it for a moment then began to say the letters. "D-R-H-A-D-L-3-Y," he said proudly.

Cameron was trying not to laugh.

Blinking, Thirteen glanced down at her name. "Wait. What's this?" she asked as she pointed at the 'E'.

"3," Alex repeated.

"Huh." Thirteen stared down at the letter than nodded her head. "That's pretty good."

"Is that how you spell your name, ?" He asked, "D-R-H-A-D-L-_3_-Y?"

"Yes," Thirteen replied, not about to correct him. "I guess the three is why people call me Thirteen." She smiled that now they apparently had an inside joke about her name. It was a way cooler reason than just because House had assigned her a number.

"Can I call you Thirteen?" He asked.

"If you want." Thirteen got to her feet and glanced at the clock. She watched Cameron clear the empty food containers from the bed then tucked Alex in. "I'll be back tomorrow," she assured him. "Good night."

"Night, Thirteen and Dr. Cameron!" Alex snuggled against his Pirates blanket, happy he had spilled juice on the hospital blanket and not that one. He watched the two doctors leave the room then closed his eyes.

"Do you think it's a good idea letting him call you Thirteen?" Cameron asked once they were out of the room. She shoved one hand in her pocket and held her bottle of water with the other. "I mean, it's not exactly professional."

"Does it matter?" Thirteen replied, looking over at her. "He's dying anyway. Might as well let him do what he wants."

Cameron nodded slowly. "Is it hard spending time with him knowing that he's dying?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Thirteen stopped walking and turned to face her.

"I just meant with you…" Cameron stopped herself. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean…"

"I don't think that's any of your business, Dr. Cameron." Thirteen walked away and left her standing there in the middle of the hallway. She glared at the floor and clenched her jaw.

"Hey." House walked in front of Thirteen as he noticed her heading down the hall. "Wow, you look grumpy."

"Shut up, House. I do not." She crossed her arms tightly over her chest and narrowed her eyes at him. "What do you want?"

"I have good news for you," he answered. "Foreman found a promising trial for Huntington's. With me being well…me, we managed to get you in."

"So you cheated me into a trial?" Thirteen confirmed. "Thanks," she said sarcastically.

He ignored her sarcasm. "I knew you'd be thrilled," he said. "I have to go harass Cuddy, but I'll tell you more later. Not tonight though, because we have other plans. I still plan to see you at my house at one. Exactly one."

"One. Right." She nodded and sighed. "See you then."

-----

Feeling guilty, Cameron finally moved from her spot in the hallway. So much for trying to be friends with Thirteen. She managed to screw that relationship up in no time. Her shift was over so she stopped by the locker room and grabbed her jacket then walked to her car.

She noted that her car was parked beside Thirteen's as she got in. She stared at the car beside her for a moment then looked down at her hands. Scolding herself for wondering why the other doctor hadn't left yet, she opened her glove compartment to get her mind focused on something else. Pulling out the unopened envelope with the test results the lab doctor had given her, she ran her finger over the dark ink that said her name. Tears stung her eyes and she definitely was not thinking about Thirteen anymore.

There was a knock on the window.

Cameron quickly shoved the envelope back where it belong and shut the glove compartment then turned to face Chase. After turning on the car, she hit the button on the side of her door and rolled down her window. "Hey," she greeted.

"Hey." Chase grinned at her. "I just got off and I saw you sitting in your car. I was wondering if maybe you wanted to go somewhere and get dinner with me."

"Actually, I already had dinner," Cameron answered. "Sorry. I really need to be getting home."

"Oh." Chase looked away in disappointment. "Alright. Maybe some other time then." He smiled at her then took a few steps away from the car.

"Maybe some other time," Cameron agreed. She rolled up the window and watched him walk away. She jumped as the door of Thirteen's car slammed shut. She ran her fingers though her hair. She convinced herself Thirteen hated her now and questioned whether or not to even go back to Alexander's room anymore. House would be unhappy if she didn't go. Not wanting to seem like a stalker, she waited several moments before Thirteen pulled out of her parking spot then also pulled out and began to head home.

A lack of cars on the road put her directly behind Thirteen even though she had waited before leaving. She suddenly wondered why Thirteen was even taking the route she was taking anyway. It would be the long way to get to her house. It hit her as she watched the other car slow down then pull into the bar. This filled her with even more guilt. She wondered if Thirteen had stopped for a drink because of what she said. For a moment, she considered stopping and apologizing, but she found herself continuing to drive forward.


	5. Where'd It All Go Wrong?

**Anonymousow: **I do enjoy posting posting posting. Haha. It's such a bad habit. -lacks any sort of patience/selfcontrol- /fail Glad you're still enjoying it.  
**Nameless:** I must say this. I love your reviews. Haha. I may wait more anxiously for your reviews than you do for my updates. xD Questions will be answered relatively soon. Don't worry. And I posted /part/ of my picture on my profile page. I actually have a whole picture...but yeah. Red Bandit Remy is sooo my new love! I've found it's great to daydream about during Western Civ. -snickers- I love the "You always stop at the same part" line in the movie too. -hearts-  
**Wesley:** Admit it...It's great that I "always stop at the same part. When it's the best part." -wink- Haha.  
**Amazon Life: **Glad I managed to make Alex so cute. =] He totally owns a piece of my heart. Also glad I've managed to keep them in character so far at least. And I refuse to answer envelope questions, 'cause the answer shows up somewhere in one of these next few chapters.  
**Ina:** Don't worry too much about Cam. She'll be fine...uh...for now. -cough-

So like...I was actually going to wait two more days to update. I'm busy with schoolwork and stuff...but I couldn't. After tonight's episode, I -at least- need a bit of humor. Seriously. I cried after tonight's episode. I knew what was coming...but still pathetically snapped. And not like...just shed a few tears. More like cried until my stomach hurt and all I could do was wonder how the hell I managed to get so attached to a fictional character. And yes...I do realize how stupid that is. -facepalm-  
And...not that you care about my personal life, I'm in panic-mode. This novel is officially my baby...and bc of my growing love for Cadley, I've been encouraged to come out about being bi to my family during Thanksgiving break.  
So...humor. It's necessary. I hope you find this chapter as funny as I did while writing it. I had a blast with it.  
I don't know if there'll be another update this week bc not only am I sulking about House shattering my pitiful heart...I also have to write a fable for Lit...and have no idea what I'm doing with it yet...and I'm obsessing over being in enough panic-mode to seriously be rambling in the notes of my fanfic to people I don't even know. /fail  
Review? -puppyeyes-

* * *

"You've been drinking," House stated not even five seconds after he opened his front door. "I can smell it on your breath."

"How else am I supposed to deal with you sanely?" Thirteen stepped inside and glanced around. "Can we get this over with? If we're here too late, I'm going to go into work tired in the morning. Then you're going to be angry and Dr. Cuddy will accuse me of being hung over."

"You probably will be hung over, so it won't be a false accusation." House shut the door behind her and grabbed his cane from where it was leaning against the wall. He walked over to his coffee table where he had two outfits laid out.

"I haven't had that much to drink," Thirteen argued, "Just enough to cloud my judgment and clear my conscious from doing this to your neighbors." She followed him to the coffee table and looked at the dark black shirts, pants, shoes, and makeup that were laid out. "House, you have got to be kidding me. There is no way I'm putting that crap on."

"You don't want them to see you, do you?" House hissed. "I checked the sizes of the clothes in your locker. Everything should fit. Bathroom is to the left, unless you want to change in the living room." He pulled off his shirt and grabbed one of the black ones from the table.

"In your dreams." She snatched the clothes he had got for her to wear and made her way to the bathroom. The only thing keeping her there was the constant reminder that her career was on the line and House could do whatever he wanted. "This isn't fair!" she called from the bathroom. She changed her shirt and pants then frowned. There was even a black beanie. With a groan, she slid it over her head.

"Hey, hey, hey!" House called back. "If you wanted fair, you chose the wrong job, the wrong profession…You picked the wrong species!" He fixed the hat on his head then picked up the black face paint. He made a line on either of his cheeks.

Thirteen emerged from the bathroom and walked back into the living room. "Is this how you amuse yourself?" she asked. "Because if so, you should really get an X-box." She grabbed the face paint from him and marked her cheeks too. "Why don't you just walk next door and politely ask them to not play their music that late at night anymore?"

"Because I'm a jerk," House answered. "And I already did. They wouldn't listen."

"Maybe you should have asked politely." Thirteen tossed the face paint back onto the coffee table.

"Maybe they should pick appropriate hours of the day to practice," House suggested. "Like any hour I'm at work."

"Can we just get this over with?" She slid on the black shoes then watched him put his shoes on also. "What? You're not going to take a black cane with you?"

"Almost forgot." House leaned his cane against the couch and limped to the closet. He opened the door and pulled out a new, black cane. "Special for the occasion."

She rolled her eyes. "Right. Great. Let's go." She waved him toward the door impatiently.

"I'm crippled. Sorry if my walking slow bothers you." House walked even slower just to bug her until he got to the door. He grabbed a flashlight from the stand beside the door then walked out into the hall, followed by Thirteen. "You know how to pick a lock, right?"

"What?" Thirteen shut his door behind them. "You want me to pick the lock to their basement?"

"How else do you expect us to get in? I put a little something in the pocket of your pants. Figured it'd be good enough to get us in."

She patted the side of her pants then reached in her pocket and pulled out the thing metal stick. "You're going to get us in trouble," she hissed. Trying to be quiet, she followed him down the stairs then across the small yard to his neighbor's house. "House, the lights are on."

"Well, obviously!" He whispered back. "If they had no power, this would be completely stupid."

"It's already completely stupid." She ducked under a window and got down on her hands and knees as he crouched and inched over to the basement door. "You didn't tell me it was right under the window."

"I thought it would have made you nervous," He answered. "I was doing you a favor." He balanced himself with his cane. "Do your best work."

"Do you have any idea how much I hate you right now?" She crawled across the grass then knelt on the two metal basement doors that led into the ground. "Ok," she whispered, mainly to herself. She lifted the lock and looked it over before taking the stick and placing it in the hole.

"That looks really dirty," House commented as he watched her wiggle the stick in the hole of the lock. "It looks like…"

"House," Thirteen cut him off. She glared at him. "Do you want me to do this or not?"

"I'll be quiet," House replied with a smirk. He turned and faced forward. After a second, he began humming the tune to Jeopardy.

She ignored him and just focused on the lock. It finally made a popping noise and the top came open. "Yes! Got it!" She whispered. "There." She pulled the lock from the door and tossed it in the grass then slowly opened one of the doors. Fortunately, it didn't make any creaking noises. "Well oiled," she commented in a mutter as she slid down onto the top step.

"Find the fuse box." House followed her into the basement. He flipped his flashlight on and shined it in front of them. He glanced around the basement. It was filled with old furniture and boxes and smelled of dust bunnies and mold. He took a step forward into the darkness and put his hand on Thirteen.

Thirteen jumped a few inches in the air. "House!" She spun around and swatted his hand away from her butt.

"I was making sure I didn't lose you," He defended.

"By putting your hand on my ass?" Thirteen snapped. "Next time, try my shoulder. Or here's a thought, don't touch me at all. I'm right in front of you." She groaned and turned around again, trying to stay a few inches in front of him. "God, just rape me in the basement, why don't you?" she muttered under his breath.

"What was that?" House took a few steps forward so he could hear her better.

"I said, I think this is a great basement, don't you?" She covered for herself. Before he could make any sort of remark, she rushed forward. "Found the fuse box!"

Just as she reached it, she could hear someone begin hitting the drums above the basement. It was too faint to tell whether they were good at it or not. "They're not that loud," she commented. A strum on a guitar practically shook the entire building, causing Thirteen to jump.

"Nah," House agreed. "They're actually really quiet compared to the quartet of old men that sometimes play in the park down the street."

"Okay, I get the picture." She placed her hand on her chest until her heart slowed down to its normal pace. Another strum on the guitar made her cringe. She opened the door to the fuse box and stared at the lever for a moment. "Ready?" She whispered.

"Ready." House nodded and shined the light from his flashlight at the lever. "Let's kick this."

After giving him a weird look, she turned around and pulled the lever. Just as she pulled it, House's flashlight went out. The noise from the floor above stopped and there was complete silence. "House?" she whispered, reaching out her hands to try and find him. "Come on, House , this isn't funny. We're going to get caught."

"I think it's funny." House turned on the flashlight from the other side of her.

Gasping, Thirteen spun around and accidentally knocked the flashlight from his hand. It clattered to the ground somewhere and shut off. "Shit."

"Now, that wasn't funny. Find it."

"What do you mean find it? I can't see anything." She got to her hands and knees, feeling the ground.

"Which is precisely why you need to find it. We have to leave. I'll look for the stairs." House limped forward. Not realizing she was on the ground, he tripped over her and crashed into a box of packing peanuts. "You didn't have to trip me."

"Ow, Damn it! I didn't trip you! You fell over me." Thirteen rubbed her side for a moment then continued to feel around for their only light. "I knew this was a bad idea." The faint sound of voices made her freeze.

"Hey, I think someone went down there and hit the fuse." The voice was male and getting closer. "Hurry up, Moonman, you're so slow!"

Thirteen could feel her heart beating up into her throat. "Hide," she hissed, unsure of where House even was. She crawled quickly across the floor, trying not to make any noise as footsteps began on the stairs. It was impossible to see where she was, but she found a stack of boxes that would surround her on three sides. It seemed like as good as it was gonna get. She wiggled herself into the space between them and crouched down then closed her eyes for a second. "Breathe, Remy," she mouthed silently.

"Fabian, you probably just left the door open last time you were down here. Who would want to go in our basement with the cockroach problem?"

Thirteen's eyes widened. She closed her eyes again and let a string of curses about House go through her head. She hoped they caught him and forced him to listen to their music or something. Opening her eyes once more, she tilted her head downward and looked at the ground. From around the corner, she could see a faint light coming from a flashlight. Holding her breath, she dug her nails into the palms of her hands. The light got closer and closer until it was pointing directly in front of her feet. She expected to look up and see some teenager staring at her with raised eyebrows. Instead, she looked up and saw a man with a thick, black mask and black and neon, purple hair that stuck out in thick spikes from his head. "Oh, fuck." Startled, she got to her feet and attempted to move backwards. The boxes behind her fell and she tripped over them, landing on her back with the back of her head smacking the ground with a quiet crack.

Her vision went blurry for a moment, but that could have simply been because the creepy, masked man decided to shine the flashlight in her eyes. "What the hell are you?!" she exclaimed.

"My name's Moonman," he answered. He reached a hand down to help her up.

"I didn't ask who you were." Thirteen stared up at him, trying to squint past the light. "I asked what you were. God, you're scary looking." She paused and realized she had just said that out loud. "Shit. I'm sorry. I didn't mean…"

Another man walked over and shoved Moonman away from her. "I told you your mask scares people!" He was dressed in a white and black suit that was complimented with white gloves that had finger holes. He ran a hand over his slicked back blond hair and grabbed the flashlight. "What are you doing in our basement?" He reached his hand down to help her up, keeping Moonman out of the way.

Thirteen took his hand and let him pull her to her feet. The world spun and she put her hand on the back of her aching head. "Ow."

"You okay?" Fabian looked concerned as he asked. It was impossible to see Moonman's expression while he had the mask on.

"Just peachy," Thirteen answered. She took the flashlight from his hand and shined it around the basement. "House? Where the hell are you?"

"Good job, Thirteen." House slid out from under an old couch and used his cane to help him get to his feet. "I told you this was a bad idea."

Her eyes widened. "You told me this was a bad idea?" She huffed and took a few angry steps toward him, but Fabian grabbed her arms and held her back.

"You're the one who got us caught," House answered, taking a step forward.

"I'm calling the police." Moonman pulled a cell phone from his pocket.

"What?" Thirteen turned to face the man in the mask. "Wait. This is all a big misunderstanding. I can explain."

"Good for you. That'll help when you're explaining it to the cops." Moonman nodded and dialed the police.

-----

House was led back into the jail cell by a man in uniform. "I heard this saying once," he said as he took a seat beside Thirteen. "A friend will come bail you out of jail. A best friend will be sitting beside you saying, 'Damn, that was awesome.' Does this make us best friends?" He feigned excitement.

Thirteen slowly lifted her head from her hands and stared at him in silence for a moment. "You have no idea how much I hate you right now." She nodded slowly then lowered her head to her hands again.

"I guess that makes us like best enemies or something." House tapped his cane on the ground and stared through the bars of the cell.

"God, you're so annoying!" Thirteen exclaimed. She rubbed her face which caused the black makeup on her cheeks to smear. "Can't you ever just not say something sarcastic?"

"I don't know," House answered. "I've never tried."

She groaned and got to her feet. After walking to the front of the cell, she rested her head forward against two of the bars. "You called someone to come get us out, right?"

"Should be here any minute." House turned and propped his leg up on the seat Thirteen had been sitting on.

"Who did you…" The door opened and the police officer stood from his seat. Thirteen's eyes widened and she slowly turned to face House. "Oh my God. Of all people, you called _Cameron_?" She tried to keep her voice low as Cameron and the police officer approached.

"Well, I wasn't going to call Cuddy," House answered. "And Wilson wouldn't answer the phone. Who else was I supposed to call?"

"I don't know," Thirteen answered, "Foreman? Kutner? Anyone!"

"What happened to you guys?" Cameron stopped a few feet away from the cell as the guard unlocked it to let them out.

Thirteen brought her hands to her forehead. This had to be one of her worst nightmares come true.

"Thirteen broke into some guys' basement," House replied. He whispered but made sure he was loud enough for Thirteen to hear. "Then she freaked out and got us caught."

"Dr. Hadley…" Cameron looked shocked.

"Do you really believe what he just said was the truth?" Thirteen lowered her hands and looked at Cameron, equally in shock. "He's lying to you."

"It wasn't a lie," House answered. "It just wasn't the whole truth."

"Can we not talk about it and leave?" Thirteen asked. "I'd like to go home."

"That's a shock." House followed Cameron as she began to lead them to her car. "I figured you'd like to go to the bar."

Thirteen opened her mouth to retaliate but realized it was useless. She pressed her hand to the back of her head again and trailed behind the other two in silence. She couldn't believe House would humiliate her and call Cameron to bail them out - oh, wait, yes, she could. When House got in the back of the car, she made the decision to sit up front. If it hadn't been Cameron's car, she probably would have slammed the door shut after getting in.

House told their adventure in the basement to Cameron with enthusiasm, making sure to put emphasis on everything he thought might get a reaction from Thirteen. But he couldn't. Thirteen sat in silence, listening to House's and Cameron's voices blend together until they finally pulled up to his house and let him out. An awkward silence filled the car.

"You okay?" Cameron was beginning to shift uncomfortably as she drove, glancing over at Thirteen every couple of seconds.

"I think I cracked my ego," Thirteen muttered. She yanked the hat from her head and threw it down by her feet then gently pressed her fingers to where her head hurt the worse. Her hair was wet. Hitting the light above her head with one hand, Thirteen took her fingers from her head and looked at them. "Damn it," she whispered.

Cameron glanced up at the light then at Thirteen's hand. Her eyes widened and she looked at the road before glancing back at her. "You're bleeding."

"No shit, Sherlock. Great observation." Thirteen took a slow breath and put her hand on her head again. She turned and rested her face against the car window. "You're like a fucking detective or something."

"Hey." Trying not to seem offended, Cameron took one hand off the steering wheel and rested it on Thirteen's shoulder. "Relax, okay?"

The fluttering returned to Thirteen's stomach as Cameron put her hand on her shoulder. She closed her eyes as her focus was pulled completely to the way Cameron's fingers rubbed small circles against her shirt. "Sorry." She wasn't sure if Cameron heard. If she did, she didn't answer. The car pulled into her driveway and Cameron stopped rubbing her shoulder. She slowly lifted her head from the window and opened her door. "Thanks."

"Do you need me to look at your head?" Cameron asked, watching her get out of the car.

"It's okay. I can handle it." Thirteen forced a smile then turned and got out of the car. "See you tomorrow?" she asked, about to the shut the door.

"I have off all day for once," Cameron replied. "Day after that though. Are you sure you're okay? I could come in and -"

"I'm fine." Thirteen tried not to seem disappointed in Cameron having the day off and in herself for not allowing Cameron to help. "Good night, Dr. Cameron."

"Sleep tight, Thirteen."


	6. I Don't Feel So Alone

**Anonymousow:** -giggles- Glad that it made you laugh. I kept cracking up while writing it...which is pathetic but so true.  
**WrongObsession:** So...your whole math equation confused the heck out of me. LOL. I think I've read it at least 20 times...and I don't understand a word of it. Bahaha. I keep trying to put it together...but yeah. -snort- x]  
**Kirei28: **I can't promise you no more House...because House plays a big part in my fanfic. Sorry. The whole thing is written and there's more House to come. Without him...Cadley probably wouldn't even get together in this fic. He had/has a big part in that.  
**Ina:** Haha. I wanted to smack his head throughout the entire fic. He and Thirteen kept rebelling in everysinglechapter. I'd want them to do one thing and they'd completely do something else. Half the stuff in this fic wasn't even in my original outline. Including them getting arrested. It was going to be that House was going to blast his own music...but that got scrapped bc he wanted to do something else. Haha. -totally won't say anymore about worrying about Cameron- -wink- They'll eventually both figure out their feelings...eventually. Ha.  
**Nameless:** So every time I get a review from you, I'm like, '.Now!' Is that sad? xD Mm. You should see the /whole/ picture. -giggles- I was going to say more, but my mom texted me and I forgot what I was typing. Huh. Anyway...thanks!  
**Tortall101: **Thanks for reviewing and glad you like Alex. =] Your username is fun to say out loud, btw. Haha.

So...I lied when I said I wouldn't update. All my ways of procrastination fell out the window. I was actually going to go to the gym instead of update...but my friend re-scheduled for tomorrow. Hm. Not cool. Anyway...enjoy!

Btw...I see all the alert lists I'm being added to. -wink- Reviewreviewreview!!! I'll make Alex give you puppy-eyes. =]

* * *

Go, Diego, Go had to be equivalent to torture. Thirteen lounged on Alexander's bed with him, an arm around his shoulders. They stared at the TV. Candy bar papers and empty chocolate milk bottles littered the floor and stand beside the bed.

"Come on, Thirteen," Alex begged for the millionth time that morning. "Tell me the story? Please?" He looked up at her and gave a sweet, toothless smile. "Pretty please?"

Thirteen had to admit that it was hard to resist. "I already told you," she said, "It's Dr. Cameron's day off. We have to wait until she comes back so she doesn't miss anything."

"Fiddlesticks." Alex pouted and tapped his fingers on Thirteen's arm. "Can't you call her and ask her to come?" he pleaded. "I miss her."

"She'll be here tomorrow." Thirteen realized she was missing the presence of the other doctor too. She was shocked House had even let her around the boy without Cameron watching over them. It just wasn't the same without her though.

"Do you like her?" Alex asked. He leaned his head back against his pillow and looked up at Thirteen.

"Do I like her?" She repeated in slight confusion.

"Yeah," He said. "Dr. Cameron. Do you like Dr. Cameron?"

"I think she's a very nice doctor, don't you?" Thirteen replied. "Why do you want to know if I like her?" She hesitated, wondering if she was really that mean to her.

"She is a very nice doctor," He agreed. "Sometimes you stare at her all googly-eyed while you're telling the story. You should kiss her."

Her cheeks suddenly felt warm. "I'm not going to kiss Dr. Cameron. I think she's a very nice doctor, that's all. Let's not tell Dr. Cameron you said that either, okay?"

"What are you not telling Dr. Cameron?" House stopped by the room and looked inside.

Thirteen clamped her hand gently over the boy's mouth just as he was about to start speaking. "Nothing," she answered. "Go away, House."

He smirked and walked away.

-----

Cameron had been curled up on her couch at home when her pager went off. She was watching TV in an oversize t-shirt and sweatpants, half asleep with her now opened envelope in her hand. It was calm and relaxing, unlike the ER of the hospital. As soon as she arrived back at the hospital, she felt like she was in the middle of mass panic.

From the bits and pieces of information she gathered from other doctors and a few random adults, apparently eleven teenagers and a younger sibling of one of them had to decided to go into an old abandoned house and light there way with a candle. They were on the second floor when the floor gave out and two kids - including the one with the candle fell through. The dry wood of the house lit up within a matter of minutes. Five were dead when she got there, three had died since she had been there, and four were in critical condition with third degree burns.

"Dr. Cameron, have you seen my son?" "Dr. Cameron, is my baby okay?" "Dr. Cameron, how could this have happened?" "Dr. Cameron, they don't know which kid is which." "Dr. Cameron, they won't let me see my daughter." People were talking from every which way. Doctors were overwhelmed and sending all the alarmed parents her way.

It wasn't as if she was trying to avoid them when she walked into one of the rooms. Cameron didn't avoid people - especially people who needed her. There were only so many questions that could be answered and so much comforting she could do before there was nothing left that could be done until she got more information.

"It's like a zoo out there." Another ER doctor peered outside then looked at Cameron. "I don't think anyone could get things under control if they tried."

"Can you blame them though?" Cameron asked. "The parents, I mean." She turned to face the other doctor when she felt a small hand grab hers. "Oh." She glanced down and her heart snapped in two. Now that the youngest of the patients was clutching her hand for dear life, she couldn't exactly call the room she was in a hiding place. Not that she was technically hiding to begin with. "Sweetheart, you're going to have to let go." The little girl couldn't have been more than ten years old. Burns covered a majority of her body and much of her red hair was gone. Cameron slowly tried to ease her hand away but the girl had a tight grip on it. Her fearful, blue eyes pierced right through Cameron's heart.

"We can't find her parents," The other doctor explained in a calm voice. "Out of all the parents out there, there's none looking for a little girl yet. They're all looking for their teenagers."

"It's going to be okay," Cameron told the girl as the other doctor tended to her burns. She figured she should be helping with that, but it was nearly impossible while she was being clung to. She crouched down beside the bed the kid was on and rubbed a non-burned spot on her hand with her thumb. "You're gonna be okay, Sweetheart."

-----

The hospital was boring when there was no work to do. A nurse had shooed Thirteen from the room so Alexander could get some sleep. Thirteen shoved her hands in her pockets and wandered down the hall. Her head ached and with each time it pounded, she regretted not letting Cameron help her with it the night before. Not because she needed help, but because she liked the feeling she got when the other doctor was near. It wasn't the same feeling she got from the random women she picked up at bars. Her day was being thrown completely off with Cameron not at the hospital.

Pushing the door open to the locker room, she was shocked to see the blond sitting on one of the benches. For a moment, she felt like smiling. Her joy was crushed when it registered that Cameron had her head in her hands and her shoulders were quivering. There was an urge to turn and run back out the door. It wasn't like Cameron had seen her walk in. Running back out of the room would get her nowhere though.

She walked over to the bench and hesitated for a moment before taking a seat, brushing her arm against Cameron's. "You okay?" she questioned when her presence wasn't acknowledged. Stupid, Remy, stupid, she thought. Of course, she wasn't okay.

"Yeah." Cameron lifted her head and scrubbed at her eyes. "Sorry. I'm fine." She placed her hands flat on the bench on either side of her, her one hand pressed against the side of Thirteen's leg.

"If you were telling the truth, you wouldn't be crying," Thirteen said bluntly. She regretted what she said when Cameron sobbed, thinking she had somehow offended her. Cameron moved her hand to Thirteen's leg though, gently gripping the fabric of her pants by her knee. "You going to tell me what happened?" she asked, feeling a bit awkward. She placed her hand between Cameron's shoulder blades and traced imaginary shapes with her fingers.

"Just someone dying in the ER today," Cameron replied. She wiped at her eyes with the hand that wasn't on Thirteen's leg.

"People die in the ER all the time," Thirteen reminded her. "You work there. You should know that it happens."

"I know." Cameron shook her head. "She was alive when she got there though. Her parents never got there until after she was gone. Never got there until after she died, because they didn't think it was serious enough to be in a rush. What kind of parents don't rush when they get a call that their kid is in the ER? What kind of parents let their kid do something stupid enough to put them in the ER?"

"Parents who should have never had kids to begin with." It had been a rhetorical question, but Thirteen answered anyway. "Speaking of kids, I know a certain little boy who has been begging me to call you. He got a game of Candyland from Wilson this morning. I bet he'd like to play it."

"You didn't want to play it with him?" Cameron moved her hand off Thirteen's leg and glanced up at her.

Thirteen was silent for a moment, continuing to trace designs on Cameron's back without even realizing it. "We wanted to wait for you."

"Really?"

"Yeah." Thirteen dropped her hand back to her side and got to her feet. "How about you give yourself an hour or two then come join us?" she suggested.

Cameron nodded.

-----

"What about a blue pillowcase?" Thirteen asked. She reached across the Candyland board and grabbed another handful of Fruity Pebbles as they waited for Cameron.

"No," Alex replied as he shook his head. "It has to match my blanket." He shoved a handful of cereal in his mouth then examined the colors on his blanket. "It has to be green or brown or black." His mouth was half full as he spoke. "But not white, 'cause that's boring."

"What are you guys talking about?" Cameron let herself in the room. She looked tired, but not miserable like she had when Thirteen had found her in the locker room.

"Thirteen said she'll buy me a pillowcase to match my blanket," Alex explained. He smiled at her then pointed to a spot on the bed beside Thirteen. "Let's play!"

Thirteen glanced up at Cameron then patted the spot beside her. "Yeah, Dr. Cameron, let's play some Candyland. Five handfuls of cereal says I lose."

"That's a very pessimistic sort of view on things, don't you think?" Cameron climbed onto the bottom of the bed beside Thirteen and sat so their shoulders were touching.

Thirteen's breath caught in her throat at the contact. "Yes, well, I'm a pessimistic sort of person." She waited for Alex to pick a piece to put on the board then reached for her own. Cameron reached at the same time and they ended up grabbing the same piece.

"You can use that one," Cameron said.

"I was aiming for the piece next to it anyway," Thirteen lied. She grabbed the one beside it and placed it on the board.

"You should get married," Alex said, smirking at Thirteen.

Thirteen's cheeks suddenly felt like they were burning. She was afraid to look over and see if Cameron was bushing too. "Maybe we should," she replied. "Just not to each other. Pick your card and move, kid." She shot Alex a look then grabbed the box of Fruity Pebbles and offered them to Cameron so she would have an excuse to see if Cameron was blushing too. Cameron's cheeks were a light shade of pink and she avoided Thirteen's eyes as she grabbed a handful of cereal.

Alex muffled a giggle and drew a card from the stack. He studied the color for a moment then moved his piece to the nearest matching space. "Your turn, Thirteen."

"My turn." Thirteen placed the box of cereal in Cameron's lap then took a card from the pile. Realizing she only got to move one space, she frowned and looked it over. She moved her piece then carefully nudged it an extra space as she moved to put the card at the bottom of the pile.

"Hey," Alex complained. "That's cheating. Move it back, Thirteen."

"I didn't cheat," Thirteen argued. "My card said it to move there."

"Then let me see your card," Alex demanded.

"Shush." Thirteen grabbed a pillow and gently whacked him with it. "It's Dr. Cameron's turn."

"You cheated, Dr. Hadley." Cameron grabbed another pillow and hit her over the head.

Thirteen gaped at her. "Ow," she stated. "I hit my head there last night."

"Dr. Hadley, I'm so sor-" Cameron was cut off as Thirteen hit her with a pillow.

"Hit Dr. Cameron!" Alex announced.

"Sounds good to me," Thirteen agreed.

"Wait, wha-" Pillows came from both sides and hit Cameron on either side of the head. "Wait! Guys, this isn't fair! Oof." She couldn't beat Alex with a pillow, so she focused all of her energy on hitting Thirteen. The box of cereal and the Candyland pieces all scattered to the floor.

Despite both she and Alex were hitting Cameron, Cameron was beginning to get the best of her. Thirteen scooted back, hovering dangerously close to the edge of the bed. One good hit from Cameron sent her toppling backwards. She grabbed Cameron's arms as she fell and yanked the other doctor off the bed and on top of her. Fortunately, she managed to keep her head tilted forward and it didn't hit the floor.

Cameron hadn't expected to go flying forward. She squeaked in surprise and landed directly on top of Thirteen. Her hands were on either of Thirteen's shoulder and she had one knee directly in the middle of Thirteen's stomach. She was in shock but Thirteen's laughter caused her to start laughing too. She lowered her head, trying to get her heart to stop thumping from the surprise of the fall.

Thirteen leaned her head back against the floor, ignoring the pain that came with it. She reached her hand around one of Cameron's arms and rubbed at her eyes as she attempted to catch her breath. She could feel Cameron's breath on her face and it was almost intoxicating. "Cameron," she gasped through her laughs. "I think you're crushing me."

Rolling off of her, Cameron glanced up at Alex. He was staring down at them while giggling. "Oh, you think that's funny, huh?" she asked, trying to stop laughing.

"You fell off the bed," Alex giggled, pointing at the two of them. He threw his pillow at Cameron's head.

Cameron caught it and whacked Thirteen across the face with it. She sat up and tossed the pillow back onto the bed then looked down at Thirteen. "Here." She held her hand down to help her up.

Grabbing her hand, Thirteen was sure electric shocks were going down her arm and up her spine. She got to her feet and took a breath. "So much for a calm game of Candyland."

"Yeah." Cameron let go of her hand and dropped backwards onto the bed, letting her legs hang off the end. She turned her head to face the TV and Alex lied down on his stomach so his head was on her shoulder. "I'm tired now."

"You were tired to begin with." Thirteen collapsed beside Alex and propped her head up with her hands. The position got quickly uncomfortable and after about a good five minutes of mental debating, she crossed her arms over Cameron's stomach and rested her head against them. They watched Wow Wow Wubbzy until Alex ended up falling asleep. Thirteen glanced over and found that Cameron seemed to be struggling to keep her eyes open. She thought about moving Alex and telling Cameron to go home, but the effort it would take to move didn't seem worth it. With a content sigh, she rolled over onto her side and closed her eyes.


	7. Don't Tell Me If I'm Dying

**Agajda**: I'm glad you like it and enjoyed the pillow fight. Thanks for reviewing!  
**Anonymousow:** If /this/ gave you butterflies I can't wait till you get to chapter...Oh, wait, it's a secret. -wink-  
**Nameless:** Baha. Don't go into shock! Tho...I could send Dr. Red Bandit Remy to save you. -grin- If you thought this chapter is cute then there's a much cuter one coming sometime in the future. T'was my favorite to write. -shiftyeyes-  
**Lilk: **Glad you think so. =]  
**Wrongobsession: **Haha. It's okay. It gave me something to think about. I'm taking a logic math class and reviewed all my skills trying to figure out what you were saying. Baha. Breakfast cereal pwns. And they'd be amazing together. 3  
**Focus Fire On Skull:** I love mini-essay reviews! They make my whole day! =D 'Cause then I get to write mini-essays back and I like chatting with my reviewers. Heh. I'm glad it makes you laugh. I laughed a lot while writing it. My roommate probably thought I lost my mind. And I'm glad I'm not the only one who compulsively checks for updates! Thanks for wishing me luck. I guarantee they have nooo clue tho. I've been good at hiding it all these years. But my novel made it impossible to stop talking about Cadley...so the truth is gonna come out sometime. Better to tell them than to have it come out the wrong way somehow.  
**BattleKitten:** Glad you liked it...especially the almost-snuggly end. =]  
**Amazon Life: **Glad you enjoyed it...especially the almost-cuddling. And Alex totally has the best wisdom. They should listen to him. -pokes characters-  
**Wesley (Chpt 5):** You still got to review...See! --- There'll be more possibilities for stuff to happen. Many more. =]  
**Wesley (Chpt 6): **They sooo should marry each other...for reals. Hehe. I'm glad you like Alex. I wasn't sure how he was going to come across.  
**Ina:** Glad you liked the end...and Alex's wisdom. =]  
**Finaldragon13:** I'm glad you like it!

Huh. Begging for reviews by making Alex use puppy-eyes musta really worked! Woo! Thanks, guys!!!

I was gonna wait a few hours to update...but I was motivated by this huge clap of thunder that just shook my entire building. Needed something to remind me to breathe. Heh. That and I'm sick and going to bed before the time I usually post chapters.

* * *

The first thing Thirteen noticed the next morning was that Cameron's stomach was no longer providing a comfortable pillow for her head. The second came as a large clang of metal in her ear. "Jesus!" She sat straight up and nearly toppled off the bed. "What the hell was that for?!" With one hand against her chest, she faced Alex and House. Both were grinning and holding two pans which they apparently thought made for a good alarm clock.

"Rise and shine, Duckling," House said cheerfully. "I need to see you in my…" His voice trailed off as Cameron emerged from the bathroom. "Well, there's a sight for sore eyes," he commented as he looked her over. "And here I thought you'd know better than to hang around sick in a room where a patient's immune system probably shouldn't even count for an immune system."

Cameron avoided his eyes and rubbed at her pale face. "Sorry," she muttered hoarsely. "I'm gonna go now." She brushed past Remy and kept her head tilted downward as she left the room.

"Your office," Thirteen finished House's sentence for him. "I'll be there then." She followed Cameron from the room, not having to walk very fast to catch up with her. "Hey." She grabbed her arm and stopped walking. "What's wrong?"

"Huh?" Cameron looked up at her then shook her head. "Nothing," she answered. "I think I'm coming down with something. You should go so you don't catch it."

"You don't have a fever," Thirteen said as she pressed the back of her hand to Cameron's forehead. "Is it your head, your throat, your stomach?" She let her hand slide to Cameron's cheek, feeling genuinely concerned.

Cameron was about to speak when Thirteen moved her hand to her cheek and the sleeve of her shirt slid down. She caught a glimpse of a cut on her wrist. "What happened?" she asked, reaching to pull her shirt sleeve down more.

Noticing what Cameron was looking at, Thirteen lowered her arm so her shirt sleeve covered the cuts again. "Nothing," she answered. "I have to go clean up the mess we made last night. There are game pieces and bits of cereal all over the floor and the nurses are probably going to have our heads. Get some more sleep. Page me if you need anything." She walked away before Cameron could respond, self-consciously tugging both of her shirt sleeves down further.

Alex glanced up at her as she walked back in. "I threw the cereal away," he said. "Want to help me pick up the game?"

"That's what I'm here for." Thirteen smiled at him then knelt down and lifted up the game board. Her hand trembled and the game hit the ground again. She quickly crossed her arms, trying to hide it.

"Why's your hand doing that?" Alex's eyes were wide as he tried to look even after she tried to hide it. "It's shaking all funny."

"It's fine." Thirteen avoided his eyes and tried to patiently wait out the shaking. Her hand calmed and she stretched her fingers then knelt down and lifted the game board. Her hands started to quiver once more, but out of fear this time. She put the board in the box then took a seat on the edge of the bed.

"What's wrong?" Alex scooted so he was sitting beside her. He took the hand that had been trembling and held it in both of his hands. "Are you okay, Thirteen?" He leaned forward and looked up at her, trying to get her to look back at him.

"Want to know a secret?" Thirteen asked after a moment. Her voice was quiet and quivered at the same rate as the rest of her body was. She glanced down at him then eased him up onto her lap.

"I'm good at keeping secrets," Alex assured her. "I won't tell no one."

"I'm dying too." Thirteen's breath hitched in her throat as she said the words outside. She desperately wanted to take them back and deny them, but they were the truth.

"Are you scared?" Alex asked. He played with her fingers and stared at her as she nodded. "You shouldn't be." He brought her hand up to his lips and kissed it then smiled. "Cause I'm gonna die. And so when you die, I'll be waiting in Heaven for you. And we'll have lots of fun together forever."

Tears stung Thirteen's eyes, but she vowed not to cry in front of him. She vowed not to cry at all. "That sounds wonderful." She hugged him then moved him back onto the bed. "I need to go get some stuff done, but Dr. Cameron and I will both be back later." She left the room, coming to terms with the fact she was dying and it was definitely not Heaven she was going to.

-----

Resting hadn't come as easy as Cameron thought it would. Once she lay down, she wasn't even tired anymore. Deciding to get paperwork from the ER done, she got up and rounded the corner of the room she had been resting in. She collided with Wilson and his cup of coffee, managing to spill it over both of them. "Sorry!" She jumped back and pulled her shirt away from her chest to avoid the hot liquid burning her. "I'm sorry. I wasn't looking where I was going. I was just…"

"It's okay." Wilson shook his head. "Apparently, I wasn't paying any attention either. You're not burned, are you?"

Looking down at the brown stain on the front of her shirt, Cameron shook her head. "No, you?"

"Just a little scalded." Wilson smiled and picked up the empty cup from the floor. The janitor could take care of the rest. "Well," he said slowly. "I guess that means a longer break for another trip to Starbucks. I think you owe me to at least ride along."

"I guess I do." She glanced up at him and smiled slightly. "I should probably get changed first though."

"I'm thinking the same thing." Wilson looked down at his shirt and sighed. "Good thing it wasn't one of my favorites."

"Wilson, I'm so sor-"

"Don't say it," Wilson said with a smile. "Go get changed then meet me at my office."

"Okay." Cameron nodded. "I'm sorry," she added quickly before turning and hurrying to the locker room. She walked past a few nurses and then past Thirteen, stopping at her locker.

"What's with the coffee stain?" Thirteen asked with a smirk. "I knew you were tired, but…"

"Wilson and I collided," Cameron explained. She smiled at Thirteen then pulled her shirt over her head. "I think he got the worst of it." She turned and opened her locker to find a new shirt. On top of all of her things was a letter. She grabbed it and unfolded it, quickly recognizing the writing as Chase's.

Glancing away, Thirteen didn't expect her to take so long to put a new shirt on. When she looked back over, Cameron was still in her bra and reading some paper. If had been any other girl, she would have stared without caring. With Cameron, she had a longing to stare but it felt like dangerous territory. Cameron wasn't into girls. She leaned forward and tapped her hands on her legs for a moment, trying to focus on something else. She tried to tell herself Cameron was too good for her. She really did believe that Cameron was too good for her. Cameron was going to Heaven, she was going to Hell. Her eyes wandered over again then snapped back to the floor. She was dying after all and before she died, things were going to go very downhill. She didn't want Cameron to deal with that. Who was she kidding; Cameron probably didn't even consider her a friend. She wasn't sure if she wanted to be Cameron's friend. That was a lie, because she did want to be Cameron's friend. Her eyes were looking at Cameron's breasts again. "Could you put some clothes on?!" she finally blurted out.

Cringing as Thirteen snapped at her, Cameron's cheeks went bright red. She shoved the note back in her locker and grabbed a shirt and pulled it over her head. Closing the door, she muttered a few apologies and avoided the stares from the girls around them as she left.

"Damn it. Good job, Remy," Thirteen whispered to herself. She smacked herself in the forehead wondering why she hadn't been the one to get up and leave.

-----

If there had been a time Cameron had done anything not work related with Wilson, she didn't remember it. He ordered a mocha and she ordered a chai tea and the two of them settled down at a table in one of the corners.

"So, how have things been going for you?" Wilson questioned. "I know House put you on case with Thirteen. He's being all secretive about it though."

"Yeah," Cameron replied. "We're pretty much playing parents to a kid, Dr Hadley and I." She blushed at Thirteen's name, feeling rather awkward. "It's…nice."

"Huh." Wilson took a sip of his drink. "The tone of your voice doesn't make it sound very nice."

"It is," Cameron assured him. "I just don't think I'm doing a very good job getting along with Dr. Hadley. I do one thing and she likes me and I do another and she's acting like the world will end if I don't go away."

"And it kind of bothers you what she's thinking about you," Wilson stated.

"It kinda bothers me what everyone thinks about me," Cameron reminded him. She traced the edge of her cup with her finger. "It bothers me a lot what she's thinking about me."

"I've seen the way you look at her," Wilson said. "House talks about it all the time. He thinks you have some sort of secret relationship going on behind his back."

Cameron's eyes widened. "It's not like that," she said quickly. "Definitely not like that. I don't…I don't know what it is. There's just a lot happening and I just…don't know."

"A lot happening?" Wilson asked. "You don't have to tell me. I just haven't had a chance to talk to you in awhile."

"Don't tell House, okay?" Cameron asked. Even though Wilson was closest to House, she trusted him most to keep secrets from him.

"I try not to tell anything to House." Wilson raised his eyebrows.

She sighed. "I had sex with Chase." She didn't want to say what she was really trying to say.

"You had sex with Chase…" He repeated slowly.

Cameron stared at him. "Wilson."

"Oh," Wilson paused. Realization sparked in his eyes. "Oh! And now you're…are you okay?"

Cameron ran her fingers through her hair. "I don't know."

-----

"Hey!" Thirteen was sitting outside the hospital when Cameron returned. She didn't want to look like she had been waiting for her, but she had been. Even though it was around twenty degrees, she sat outside in a short-sleeved shirt, trying to get her thoughts in a straight line. It was useless. Her mind was absolutely everywhere.

"You're going to catch a cold out here." Cameron stopped beside the bench she was sitting on but faced forward. She rubbed her hands together and rocked back on her heels. "You didn't have to yell at me earlier."

Leaning forward on her knees, Thirteen rubbed her face for a moment. "I know," she replied, speaking mainly into her hands. She sniffled from the cold and lifted her head. "I'm sorry, I just…" She got to her feet and walked so she was in front of Cameron. The other doctor refused to look her in the eye. She swallowed and chewed on her lower lip. "I find you beautiful, okay? I look at you and I just…I don't - I can't…" Her voice trailed off. What was she supposed to say? She couldn't keep her eyes off of her? She knew she didn't like girls and didn't want the scared her away.

"Dr. Hadley, I don't think…" Cameron's voice also came to a stop when she realized what Thirteen had said. She blinked a few times. "You think I'm beautiful?" Her voice got quiet and she glanced up at her.

"Yeah." Thirteen let her hands fall to her side in exasperation. "You're gorgeous and I just - I…" She stopped talking and clenched her jaw, wrapping her arms tightly around herself. She let out a breath and met Cameron's eyes. The feel of Cameron's warm breath so close to her face drew her closer. She swallowed and glanced from her eyes to her lips.

Cameron let her own eyes wander to Thirteen's lips. She leaned forward a bit then wondered what she was doing. "We're going to turn into icicles out here," she stammered. She forced a smile at Thirteen then turned and hurried inside.

Watching her go, Thirteen had already began to wonder what she had just done wrong. She ran her tongue over her lips and stood there shivering. Maybe Cameron hadn't even been about to just kiss her. She shook her head and ran a hand through her hair. Tears stung her eyes and she scrunched up her face to get them to stop. She wasn't even sure what she was crying over. Pulling herself together, she uncrossed her arms and walked inside.

-----

Seeing Cameron waiting outside Alex's room sent all of Thirteen's emotions numb. She dug her nails into her palms and clenched her jaw. It was almost like they were back to day one with Cameron standing outside. "I think I can handle things alone by now," she said coldly, stopping beside the door. "Go find a new way to suck up to House." The numbness turned into anger when Cameron didn't answer her, but the insult relieved a bit of it. "You know, maybe if you do enough of what he wants, he'll finally give a damn about you for a few minutes."

Cameron glanced up at her with a straight face. "Keep talking, Dr. Hadley," she said quietly. "What else do you have to say?"

Thirteen was about to speak again when Alex interrupted them.

"Thirteen!" His screamed pierced the hospital halls. "Dr. Cameron! No! No!"

Both doctors rushed into the room. "Hey." Thirteen knelt down by his bed and placed her hands on his arms. "What's wrong, Sweetie?"

Alex scrubbed at his eyes then whimpered. "I had a dream that…that…I don't remember, but it was scary." He sobbed a few times. "I had…I…I had a – a accident."

"Shhh." Thirteen ran her fingers through his hair. "It's okay. It happens sometimes. Dr. Cameron will get you dry clothes, okay?" She stripped the top blankets from the bed and dropped them beside the door.

"Let's get you changed, Sweetheart." Cameron helped him down off the bed. She glanced at Thirteen as she began taking off the bottom blankets then turned her attention back to Alex. "I'll get you cleaned up." She grabbed a clean hospital gown then gently led the boy into the bathroom.

Thirteen placed all the wet blankets by the door then checked to make sure it hadn't soaked through to the bed. Satisfied that she had found no wet spots, she grabbed new sheets and put them on the bed then sat down and waited for them to come out of the bathroom.

Alex was carried out by Cameron and placed on the bed. He stayed where she put him for a moment then crawled onto Thirteen's lap and wrapped his arms tightly around her waist. "I got scared," he mumbled tearfully, hiding his face against her shirt.

"I know. I know." She slid her arms around him gently, trying not to look at Cameron sitting down at the bottom of the bed. "You know a good way to make scary things go away?"

"Nu uh." Alex shook his head and glanced up at her. "How?"

"You say the magic words," Thirteen replied. "Googly, googly, googly, be gone!" She wiggled her fingers in the air.

Alex was silent for a moment. "Googly, googly, googly…go away?" he asked and shook his hand in the air.

That made Thirteen crack a smile. "Yeah. Perfect." she nodded her head and leaned back against the bed. "So where were we?"

"The slaves," Alex reminded her with a hiccup.

_"We have to free the slaves!" Wilson announced. The bandits rode down toward the slaves. Some of them pulled out their guns and began to shoot at the guards while the others took to cutting the slaves loose from the chains that held them to the moving home. The guards fell dead from their horses and the slaves ran free across the desert. The home came to a stop._

_Remy shot the lock off the door while Foreman lit a bomb and placed it on the ground. "Come out, Governor House!"_

_The bandits pointed their guns toward the door. It opened and a small boy in a golden cloak stepped outside. The bandits took one look at him and lowered their guns. He was followed by a beautiful princess._

_"Just like a butterfly," Chase compared her._

_Remy turned and put her mask back over her face._

"Why the mask again?" Alex groaned.

"She doesn't want to scare her," Thirteen explained slowly. "This girl doesn't know anything about her. But Remy knew everything about this girl. The color of her eyes…"

"Blue or maybe green," Alex suggested. He tilted his head, trying to see the color of Cameron's eyes.

Thirteen smiled. "The way her voice gets soft when she's sad…or how her smile could light up an entire room."

_Remy stared at the princess, mesmerized. The rest of the bandits took a step back._

"What about the bomb?" Alex asked quickly.

"What?" Thirteen looked down at him.

"The bomb!" He exclaimed.

_The bandits took one look at the bomb and panicked. Foreman shot the wick on the bomb and the bandits hopped on their horses. Remy grabbed the princess and left the boy behind. They rode down from the high mountain deserts to a place that Remy loved. She had played there with her twin when they were children. They traveled by boat to a palace in the middle of a lake._

_Once there, the bandits took time to rest. Chase painted some pictures of Wallace to add to his collection. Kutner stared out at the water. When the princess approached him, he placed a blindfold over his eyes._

_"Why doesn't he want to look at me?" The princess asked as she approached Remy. "He put a blindfold over his eyes."_

_Remy explained about how he had been married to a beautiful squall and how Governor House ruined his life._

_"But people can't show what's in their hearts when they hide their faces," The princess said. "Who are you, Masked Bandit?"_

_"To most, I'm just known as The Masked Bandit," Remy answered. "But you can call me Remy." She slowly removed the mask that covered her face. "And who are you?"_

"It should be Dr. Cameron," Alex insisted. "Princesses are pretty. Dr. Cameron is very pretty." He smiled at Cameron, who was blushing and staring down at her hands.

_"My name is Allison," The princess replied._

Alex sneezed. "You gotta make it Dr. Cameron," he insisted again.

"Bless you," Cameron commented on his sneeze. She smiled softly. "My first name is Allison," she explained. "Cameron is my last name."

Alex made his mouth in the shape of an 'o'.

"We should stop for awhile," Thirteen suggested. She shifted Alex off her lap and pulled back the blankets for him.

"No." Alex narrowed his eyes at her. "You can't stop there. She just met the princess!"

"I have to go see Dr. House," Thirteen replied. "It's important. I'll tell you more of the story tomorrow." She helped him lie back then tucked him in. After a moment of hesitating, she leaned forward and kissed his forehead. "I'll see you tomorrow." She stood and walked past Cameron and out of the room.

Cameron got up and followed her. "What was that all about?" she asked once they were outside the room.

Thirteen stopped and turned quickly to face her. "What was what all about?"

"That," Cameron answered, "You putting me in your story. I thought you'd be…"

"Mad at you?" Thirteen tried to finish for her.

"What?" Cameron asked. "You're mad at me?" Her heart dropped. "Thirteen, what's going on with you?"

She narrowed her eyes. "There's nothing going on with me. I have to go."

"Something's wrong," Cameron answered. "There is something wrong." She grabbed one of Thirteen's arms and turned it over. "What happened? Why are you going to see House?"

"I'm going to see him about a new Huntington's trial, okay?" Satisfied that Cameron didn't respond, she yanked her arm away and walked off.

-----

"Well, someone looks happy," House said sarcastically as his office door slammed behind Thirteen. "Could you keep my door on the hinges?"

"Can we just get this over with?" Thirteen walked to his desk and took a seat in one of the chairs. "Just tell me what I need to know." With that, she tuned him out. There was something about the trial being extremely promising and worrisome, but iffy side-effects. She didn't tune him back in until he mentioned the hospital was overcrowded and she'd need to find one of the doctors to stay with the first night of the medication.

"I figure since you're getting so close to Cameron that…"

"No." Thirteen cut him off. "That's the last person I want to stay with."

"Aw. Having lover's spats already?" House asked, faking as if he was concerned. "That's too bad, because you aren't getting a choice here." So, maybe she really didn't need to stay anywhere and be watched over. How else would he know if there was a potential relationship going on there though?

"Well, then, don't put me on the trial," Thirteen said simply.

House leaned back in his chair. "You know, it'd really be too bad if it worked and you never got a chance to find out," he commented. "Just found out that kid you're watching also has some hope. You might be giving him up to social services instead of death. Could have a chance to be part of his life."

"I don't want to deal with this." She stood. "I'll consider it, but it isn't because of the stupid kid. I'm not attached."

"Sure, you're not," House mumbled. "I have something else. About the band."

"There is no way in hell I am dealing with them again," Thirteen said. "We just landed ourselves in jail because of them!"

"So, even if I tell you I got you and someone else a pass into that new club twenty minutes from here, you wouldn't even consider it?" House asked. "Huh. That's too bad."

"What are you talking about?" Thirteen asked slowly.

"Turns out, that's where they'll be playing. Is it a big enough bribe to get you to check them out and do the trial?"


	8. Compromise Reality

**WrongObsession:** Haha. Math is totally overrated. You'd be confused if you were Allison in my story or in Remy's story? Lol. It makes me smile for some reason that you wanted to grow up to be Zorro. Haha. I refuse to even admit what I once upon a time wanted to grow up to be. It makes Zorro sound perfectly sane. xD  
**Focus Fire On Skull: **Ew. Twilight. -gag- Haha. I know the feeling...I was dodging questions all day today. My family asked which boy I liked most here at school 6+ times in one hour. I was just like, "Ughhhhhh. None of them! Blech! Take the hint!" In my head anyway. I just kept changing the subject to weird things. Yay for essay reviews! I'm glad you like how I write her. I kept getting frustrated with her. She always wanted to do different things than what I was trying to write her doing. -facepalm- Apparently she didn't enjoy me making her vulnerable...at all. Haha.  
**BattleKitten: **Glad you like the story and they make you laugh. x]  
**Bigblusky: **Glad you like the relationship between Thirteen/Alex. She and Cameron will eventually sort things out. =]  
**Kirei28: **Huzzah! I managed to melt at least one heart! Totally met my goal. xD Thanks.  
**Tortall101:** Sorry for any confusion. The envelope was stating she was pregnant...which is what she hinted to with Wilson. I shoulda made that more clear.  
**Wesley: **Sorry if I've managed to confuse you! Feel free to ask any questions and if I know they're not answered later on, I can answer them for you. The thing is...I wrote this for NaNoWriMo. So it was all about quantity and not quality. I didn't look back to see if I contradicted myself, if I was out of character, if I was confusing, ect ect. I just wrote straight thru until I hit 50,000 words then shipped it off to two betas bc I decided I liked it enough to post it. So, ask away if you have questions.  
**Nameless: **I'll send Dr. Red Bandit Remy to revive you...but remember to send her back to the story bc she belongs to Princess Allison. -wink- I'm glad you liked the chapter...and that Alex made you tear up. I was all "awww" while writing him. And it won't be too bad. It's not like her and Chase have an actual relationship in this fic. Remy & Cam will be that close again...uh...eventually. Haha. And don't worry...I love long reviews. I get them and I run off to my friend Valerie all, "I just got this huge review! Eeeeeee!" She probably thinks I'm crazy. But that's okay!  
**Roronoa Robin: **I'm glad you think it's well written! I wrote it for NaNoWriMo, which is all about quantity...so I never stopped to look at the quality of it. I guess nervous posting each chapter bc I wrote straight thru barely spending an hour on each chapter. I'm glad you like Alex. I don't use madeup characters very often...but he was such a joy to write. Yay for virtual hand motions! I do them all the time. x]  
**Ina:** Well, I guess when you go thru stuff he went thru...wisdom comes along with it. I'm glad you like him. And Cam is indeed pregnant. =] The two of them will both eventually get used to each other and things will be okay...er...sorta. Baha.

Review! Review! Review! Lol.

* * *

It was the first time Thirteen had woken up to a girl that hadn't abandoned her before she got up. It wasn't the first time she woke up with an empty bottle of alcohol still in her hands. House had called her on the phone and managed to convince her to stay with Cameron the first night of taking the medicine (mainly by using Alex against her). It would also be a good way to figure out how to make Cameron interested in her. After that, she avoided snapping by hitting the bar and the girls. Clothes were still thrown across her bedroom floor and the blankets from the bed were down there too.

She hit her alarm to turn it off and squinted at the sunlight that was coming in through the windows. She was going to have to remind herself to buy a darker curtain to put up. Closing her eyes again, she silently congratulated herself for waking up on time. Sitting up, she swung her legs over the edge of the bed. The funny feeling she had didn't register until she got to her feet and stumbled a bit. It wasn't the first time she had woken up still drunk either.

The other woman had left sometime while Thirteen was in the shower. She was grateful because she really hadn't wanted to deal with waking her up and kicking her out before she had to leave for work. She actually debated whether or not she even planned on showing up for work the entire time she was in the shower. On one hand, it wasn't like she had any cases or paper work to deal with. On the other hand, spending time with Alex was supposed to straighten her out or something. She just hoped Cameron chose not to show up.

Alex was sitting on his bed when Thirteen finally showed up. He had crayons, glitter glue, and construction paper spread out all over. "Thirteen!" he exclaimed when she appeared in the doorway. "Dr. Cameron got me lots of stuff and I'm making a bandit mask! You should make one too!"

"A bandit mask, huh?" She held herself steady against the wall for a moment then walked in and sat down on the side of the bed. "You want me to make one too?" She picked up a piece of red construction paper and a black crayon.

"I made one like the blue bandit," Alex said. He finished tying a piece of string on the ends and slipped the blue, construction paper mask over his head. "I'm going to make a pretty princess one for Dr. Cameron." He grabbed a piece of white paper and pulled the glitter glue closer. "Oh! I made you a picture!" He picked it up just as Thirteen was putting on her own mask and handed it to her.

Thirteen looked the picture over as Alex finished a mask for Cameron. He had drawn himself, her, and Cameron all standing in what she assumed was his version of her castle on the lake. "It's beautiful," she told him, gently running her fingers over it. "I'll keep it forever."

"I hope I don't die but that I don't get better," Alex said. He put Cameron's finished mask on the bed to dry.

"Why is that?" Thirteen asked. "You don't want to get better?"

He shook his head. "Then I'll have to leave. I want to stay here with you and Dr. Cameron as long as I can."

Thirteen was sure part of her heart melted. "That's sweet," she said. "But you know that it's impossible. You're going to have to be brave like a bandit when it comes to leaving."

He slowly slid off his mask. "I don't want to be a bandit then."

"Huh." Thirteen tilted her head to the side. "That's too bad."

_The bandits headed toward Governor House's castle for their final encounter. His castle was in the middle of a big, blue city that had guards on top of almost every building._

"This is the best part of the whole story," Thirteen told him. "It would be a shame for you to have to spend your whole life just wondering how it turns out and never knowing."

He hesitated and looked at his mask. "If I promise to be brave, will you tell me the story now?"

She nodded.

_Allison and Remy stood outside of the castle on the lake. They had begun to tell each other the secrets in their lives. Remy had told Allison she had Huntington's and was on another quest to get the most out of her life before it ended. She finally admitted that she had done some things she regretted and told Allison she thought she should leave. "You've captivated my heart, Allison. That's why I can no longer keep you in captivity. I've fallen in love with you. But I'm consumed with grief. I'm not a woman who can be loved. I'm sorry."_

"Why?" Cameron appeared in the doorway. She crossed her arms and leaned sideways against the frame.

Thirteen glanced at her then looked down at the bed.

_Remy and Allison knelt outside the castle. "I don't want you to see me like this," Remy said._

"You think you took me captive?" Cameron took a few steps inside.

_"You didn't take me captive," Allison said as the two of them stood again._

"Make them kiss," Alex said with a grin.

"No, I don't want to make them kiss," Thirteen replied.

"Why?" he groaned.

"Because."

_Awhile later, the bandits stood on top of the castle in the lake. Allison was resting on a beautiful couch with an umbrella to block out the sun._

_"She shouldn't go with us," Foreman told Remy as he cast a glance at the princess._

_"Why?" Remy asked. She shook her head in disbelief._

_"It's too dangerous of a mission for someone like her," Foreman answered. "She'll get hurt. Governor House will kill her."_

_Allison sat up straighter. "Governor House?" she questioned._

_Remy turned to face her. "He's my sworn enemy."_

_"I know him," Allison said. "I don't think he's that bad. He has to be nice deep down."_

"I made you a mask too," Alex said, holding up the one he made for Cameron. "The glitter isn't all the way dry yet, but here."

"Thank you." Cameron smiled and walked in. She took the mask from him and looked it over. "It's gorgeous."

"Can I talk to you in the hall?" Thirteen glanced up at Cameron. She didn't wait to get an answer before getting to her feet and walking from the room. She glanced back to make sure Cameron was following.

"What's up?" Cameron asked, still holding the mask Alex had given her. She glanced around almost nervously then looked up at Thirteen and smiled.

"Could you just leave?" Thirteen asked. "House isn't checking up on us. He'll never notice. Just go, okay? You obviously have work to do in the ER or something."

Her smile faded. "Why is it that one moment you want me around and then the next you don't want me within one-hundred feet of you?" she asked. "You're sending me mixed signals. And now I'm in your story and…it makes it seem like you like me, but…"

"It's just a story," Thirteen stated. "Almost everyone is in it. It doesn't mean anything. It wouldn't even matter if I liked you or not." Seeing this conversation was ending up hopeless, she turned and walked back into the room.

Cameron defiantly stood in the doorway.

_There was only one way to deal with Allison after the bandits decided on not taking her with them. She knew too much._

_Allison was tied to a pole outside the castle. Remy stood a few feet away from her as all the other bandits started to pace back and forth. Foreman approached her with a blindfold and offered to put it on her, but she turned him down._

_"No," she said and shook her head. She looked at Remy as she raised her gun. "I want to look at her until I die."_

_Remy groaned and lowered her weapon. "What a mystery, this world. One day you love them, then the next you want to kill them a thousand times over."_

_"God, forgive her," Chase whispered. He and the rest of the bandits turned so their backs were to Remy and Allison._

_Remy raised the gun once more. "I'm glad I never kissed you." She pulled the trigger and shot Allison in the chest._

"She can't die!" Alex clutched the blanket in panic. He looked over at Cameron who was staring at the ground. "Look, Thirteen, you're making her sad! Don't be such a meanie!" He pointed a finger at her and glared.

_Allison started coughing._

_"She's alive!" Foreman exclaimed. He rushed over to her and looked for any signs of blood. There was none. He noticed the bullet in the middle of a solid, gold locket she was wearing around her neck. He pulled the locket off her and opened it. "My dearest daughter," he read. "Never marry for money, fame, power, or security. Always follow your heart. Your ever-loving father…"_

_"It says all that on that little locket?" Remy asked._

_Foreman nodded._

_"I never knew what it said," Allison told them, glancing at Remy. "No one has ever been able to open it before. You're the first."_

_Remy knew then that she loved Allison._

_They decided to have a wedding inside the castle in the middle of the lake. The bandits stood in a circle around Allison, Remy, and the priest. Women in thick, white and blue twirling skirts spun in circles around the group._

_As the priest was speaking, Cuddy walked into the castle and over to the ground. She stopped beside Remy and took her hand, tracing invisible lines across her palm._

_After the bandits got over staring at her in shock, Chase began to translate for her. "She says she spies danger in your palm," he said. "You're becoming too far gone and death is near."_

_"Danger?" Remy asked, looking away from Cuddy and over at Chase._

_"She says self-destruction is not the answer," Chase translated. "She also says there's a secret chant to make the scary things go away. Something about googly googly." Everyone around them began to chant, "Googly, googly, googly, googly…"_

_The priest chuckled. "That will never work. I have betrayed you." Guards snuck up behind the bandits and hit them over the head._

_The bandits woke up in the middle of a desert. They were sitting on the sand with their hands tied to poles behind them. Two guards stood by them to make sure they didn't escape. Not long later, two other guards arrived on horses. They looked at the bandits and laughed at their dry skin and chapped lips._

_One of the guards hit the mystic. The other guard poured water into his helmet then held it a few inches away from Wilson, just far enough away that he couldn't lean his head forward to drink any. They placed a giant ice cube on the ground in front of Remy and began to scrape it with a knife. The guard with the helmet dumped the water on the ground._

"Does someone come to save them now?" Alex asked.

"No." Thirteen shook her head. "There was no one left to save them."

_One of the guards took a sword from his belt and held it up to Wilson's neck._

_Chase's bag was lying behind him. It began to shift and the top finally opened. Alexander crawled from the bag and began to untie the bandits._

_"Wallace? Is that you?" Chase mumbled, struggling to keep his eyes open._

_"No," Alexander whispered in his ear. "It's me."_

_"No wonder the bag was so heavy," Foreman commented._

_Alexander ran around the circle until he got to Remy. He carefully untied the ropes that were binding her to the pole then placed a pistol in her hand._

_She gasped then slowly climbed to her feet. A guard was still holding a sword up to Wilson's neck and she pointed the gun at him. With a groan, she slowly stumbled forward._

_"Shoot them! Shoot them!" Alexander grinned and bounced up and down, oblivious to the fact Remy was struggling just to stand. "Shoot them!"_

_The guards jumped on their horses and began to escape into the desert._

_Remy collapsed to the ground, leaning back against the stick in the ground she had previously been tied to. She placed the pistol on the ground beside her._

_"Do you recognize me?" Alexander asked. He jumped up and down a few more times then knelt down beside her._

_She slowly turned her head to look at him. "Who are you?"_

_"It's me!" Alexander answered. "Your son!"_

_"Who?" Remy squinted her eyes at him._

_"Me!" Alexander insisted._

_"My son?" She asked slowly._

_"Yes! You recognize me!" He leaned forward and kissed her on the cheek._

_"I didn't recognize you because you aren't in a hospital gown," Remy defended herself. She smiled softly as he giggled. "You have to be strong now, okay?"_

Cameron wasn't sure what direction this story was taking, but she didn't think it was moving in a good one. Letting the kid refer to himself as her son had to be crossing some sort of boundary. She walked in the room and took Thirteen by the elbow, gently pulling her from the room. "Dr. Hadley," she said, trying to sound professional. "We need to talk about this."

Thirteen followed rather reluctantly. "I'm in the middle of a story, Dr. Cameron." She leaned back against the wall outside the room and looked past the other doctor.

"I know, that's what I…" Cameron scrunched up her nose and took a small step closer to Thirteen. "Have you been drinking?"

This was the exact reason she had been hoping to avoid Cameron. It figured the second time Cameron ever got that close to her mouth was to smell her breath. "Not in the hospital," she replied. There was no use denying it altogether. It was obvious by the appalled look on Cameron's face that she already knew the truth. Thirteen was glad she had at least had enough not to feel any shame for now.

"You're drunk too, aren't you?" she asked, taking a step back. "That's why you're saying those things in your story."

"I am so sober right now!" Thirteen answered. She paused and quickly decided the choice of words and the emphasis on them didn't support her.

Clenching her jaw, Cameron stared at her. For the first time that day, she actually took in Thirteen's appearance. It looked like she had thrown on the first thing out of her hamper and there were dark circles under her eyes. "Were there drugs too?"

"You're being awful accusing today," Thirteen said. She narrowed her eyes. "I don't think any of this was any of your business. You were told to watch over me with Alex, not dig your way into my personal life."

"Your personal life is having and effect on you and Alex," Cameron defended herself. "I'm going to tell Dr. Cuddy."

A laugh escaped Thirteen before she could hold it back. "You won't tell." Honestly, she wasn't sure whether Cameron would tell on her or not. If she really thought it was for the well-being of a patient, she'd probably be in Cuddy's office within five seconds. She had already been trying over and over to convince herself it didn't matter if she screwed her job goodbye, so she told herself she didn't care if Cameron told Cuddy. "You won't." She turned and walked down the hall.

Cameron knew Thirteen was right. If she told, it would only backfire on Thirteen. "You need to find someone and talk to them." She followed her down the hall. "You're switching moods like you're bipolar. House told me about the Huntington's trial. I'd love if you stayed with me, but it's not going to work out if you're acting like this. How am I going to have you in my home if we're going to argue every five seconds? I want to help you. You're not alone in this."

Thirteen stopped and turned around to face her. She took a step back as Cameron came to a quick stop and nearly ran into her. "Not alone?" she repeated. "Are you dying?" she asked sarcastically.

"No," Cameron answered. "But turn around and walk back into Alex's room. He is. He's dying a lot faster than you are. He's only a kid and he's not acting like this."

"Yeah, he can't act like this," Thirteen replied. "He's a kid. What's he going to do? Steal codeine and seduce the nurses? Plus, House says there's a chance he might make it."

"Then be happy for him," Cameron said. "Pull yourself together." She smirked. "If you're not going to talk to someone then buck up and be a bandit."

Running a hand through her hair, Thirteen just nodded. "Easy for you to say. Your life is perfect."

"I wouldn't say it's perfect," Cameron replied, "Far from it. How about we go back to my house until I'm convinced you're sober? We can make lunch or something."

"Alright." She forced a smile.


	9. I Won't Hesitate No More

**WrongObsession:** Yeah. Things start to not jump all over now...sorta. =] I'm super glad you're enjoying it.  
**Anonymousow:** You know...I never really looked at Remy shooting Allison as humorous until your review. I totally see where you're coming from. Lol.  
**Ina:** You know...every time someone says hot'n'cold in a review, I run off to listen to Katy Perry. Haha.  
**Focus Fire On Skull: **Well, writing is the socially acceptable form of schizophrenia. Haha. Not that I'm socially accepted when I complain about how my characters refuse to do what I want them to. xD Back when House and Thirteen got arrested, I was complaining bc it wasn't in the outline. My friend was like, "Uh...you know you don't have to write that, right?" Vet version of Thirteen? Awesome! And I'm already finished with NaNo. I hit 50,000 in the first week. I'm up above 60,000 now...just kinda writing on and off when I'm bored. I have a sequel I'm writing to this fic that I probably won't post. -facepalm-

Wow...so 4 reviews. Slow weekend or...was last chapter really that awful? Huh. Anyway...I think you'll all enjoy this chapter quite a bit. I've been told a few times it's the cutest one. -grin-

* * *

The black jacket and pink scarf with matching gloves Cameron had put on in the locker room were undeniably cute. Thirteen leaned against the doorway, holding the door open with her foot.

"Take a picture. It'll last longer," House commented as he walked by. "You're not as subtle with your staring as you think you are."

Thirteen snapped out of her thoughts and quickly looked away from Cameron. Fortunately, it didn't seem like the other doctor had noticed her staring or heard House as he walked past. "You ready to go?" She tugged on her own black jacket with two rows of buttons beside each other. It was simple, but warm enough to get her from the hospital to Cameron's car. She hadn't bothered with gloves.

"Yeah." Cameron smiled at her. She walked over and linked arms with her. Thirteen seemed to get rooted to her spot when she approached her and she practically had to drag her for the first few steps. "Come on, slowpoke."

"I'm not a slowpoke." Thirteen trailed behind her, occasionally glancing at their arms. She picked up speed after a moment so she was walking beside her. Anything she had been worried about drained from her mind and made her feel almost lightheaded. "It's snowing!" Clearing her throat, she almost blushed at her own excitement as they walked outside.

"So that's what that white stuff falling from the sky is," Cameron teased. Giant flakes were layering on the ground. There had to be at least an inch already. Tilting her head back, she stuck out her tongue.

Unlinking their arms, Thirteen smirked. She let Cameron have her fun trying to eat the snow and knelt down, gathering a handful of it before standing back up. "Hey, Dr. Cameron."

"Hm?" Cameron tilted her head down again. Thirteen's snowball hit her smack in the forehead. She clamped her eyes shut and scrunched up her face.

Thirteen started laughing. She knelt down and grabbed another handful, throwing it at the other doctor just as her hands moved from wiping away the last snowball.

"Uh!" Cameron moved her hands to cover her face. Peering through her fingers, she tried to make sure Thirteen wasn't about to hit her with another one. "That wasn't fair!"

"In the words of House," Thirteen mocked. She pretended to lean on an invisible cane and mock the tone of his voice. "Hey, hey, hey. If you wanted fair, you picked the wrong species."

"Oh, so that's how you wanna play?" Cameron knelt down and grabbed a handful of snow. Curving an arm around Thirteen's waist to keep her from running, she shoved the ice cold flurries down the back of her shirt. "Bet you're sober now, huh?"

Trying to bite back a yelp, Thirteen tensed her shoulders and leaned her head back. "You're so getting it!" She twisted out of Cameron's grip and gathered up an armful of snow.

"What are you doing with that?" Cameron asked slowly. She held her hands out in front of her to protect herself and backed out of the parking lot into a small stretch of snow covered grass. Noticing Thirteen was gaining on her and fast, she turned and ran. After a few steps, she tripped over her own feet and toppled forward onto her hands and knees. She had enough time to spin around and sit on her bottom before Thirteen dropped the pile of snow over her head. "That's cold!" she complained, shivering.

"Really? I never would have guessed." Thirteen knelt down beside her and began trying to scoop up handfuls of snow and drop it over her head.

"Stop!" Cameron squeaked, beginning to laugh hysterically. "Dr. Hadley! Thirteen! Remy! Hey!" She tried shoving her away but had her eyes closed and couldn't find her. "You are being so unreasonable!" she gasped through her laughter. "All I - I just - Hey!"

Thirteen stopped and looked at her. The poor doctor was covered in snow, grinning and trying to catch her breath. Thirteen was absolutely taken by her. Not taking time to debate between feelings and logic, she shoved her onto her back, sliding a hand under her head so it wouldn't hit the ground, and pressed her lips against Cameron's. Her insides felt like they turned to mush when Cameron kissed her back and her fingers entangled themselves in her hair. The snow under her was no longer cold and it felt like the world spun in a slow circle around them.

"You taste like something from Starbucks," Thirteen commented when she pulled back.

Cameron had to take a moment to compose herself. "Chai," she sputtered, looking absolutely flabbergasted. "Wilson got me addicted." She licked her lips and slowly sat up as Thirteen moved away from her. "I uh - I don't know what to say."

"Then don't say anything." Well, she wasn't flipping out. That was good. Thirteen wondered if she'd put her into some kind of shock though. "It's getting cold out here." That was a lie. She was as warm as could be. She got to her feet and held her hand down to help Cameron up.

Cameron gripped her hand and allowed herself to be pulled to her feet. Her legs felt wobbly from the lack of oxygen from both laughing so hard and kissing Thirteen. Her hand stayed connected to Thirteen's a few moments longer than it should have. "My car's on the other side of the parking lot."

Tingles engulfed Thirteen's hand when Cameron released it. "We should probably get walking before we freeze to death then."

"Yeah. Freeze to death," Cameron repeated in a mumble. She blinked a few times then shook her head and began walking across the parking lot.

Thirteen chuckled. She wasn't sure whether she herself or Cameron had closed the gap between them, but they ended up arm in arm again. She could still taste Cameron as she ran her tongue over her lips when they approached the car. "Before we leave, I was just thinking…" She was silent for a moment. "Maybe we could take Alex back to your house with us for a few hours."

"Do you think we'd be allowed to do that?" Cameron looked up at her and stopped by the hood of her car. "I mean, technically, we have no rights to do anything with him."

"Since when does House care about rights?" Thirteen asked. "He's stable right now. What if House is wrong about him having a chance? It's the beginning of December and what if he doesn't even make it till Christmas? Let's take him for awhile."

"Speaking of Christmas," Cameron said with a grin. "I got a recipe to Christmas cookies already. We could make them. Here, you warm up the car and I'll go see what I can do. I have to find something dry to wear anyway. I'm freezing."

"Sorry about that." Thirteen smirked and took the keys.

Thirteen wondered if she should have been the one to go in as she waited for Cameron to return. She could have had an easier time convincing House to let them take the kid. Leaning forward, she pressed her hands against the heater vents in attempt to warm them up. Her fingers were red from no gloves while attacking Cameron with snow. Her mind kept wandering back to the kiss and every time she thought about it her lips tingled. She wanted to do it again just as soon as Cameron got in the car, but she was pretty sure that wouldn't go over well.

"Hey."

Thirteen jumped as the backdoor opened and Cameron greeted her with a smile. She spun around and watched her place Alex in the car and then buckle him in. He was still in a hospital gown. "Looks like we'll have to stop somewhere and get you some clothes, Buddy."

"Really?!" Alex asked. He squirmed with excitement, making it difficult for Cameron to get him buckled in.

Knowing his immune system wasn't that great, Thirteen ruled out Wal-mart, Kmart, and Target. "We'll find somewhere to get you something to wear."

The local dollar store was definitely no JC Penny, but it suited the purpose. They found Alex a Go, Diego, Go sweat suit. Realizing her clothes were soaked from the snow and she had no extras, Thirteen ended up buying a red t-shirt and black sweatpants. It wasn't like she was going to be doing anything other than lounging around in Cameron's house getting fat off Christmas cookies.

-----

"I've never made Christmas cookies before," Alex commented. He was sitting on the counter with the bowl between his legs while holding a giant, wooden spoon that he was trying to stir the dough with.

"Me neither," Thirteen replied. "I guess this is new for both of us." She slid her finger around the top of the bowl then brought it to her mouth. "Mm."

Cameron shooed her away. "Wait until we bake them, Miss Impatience."

"Oh, come on." Thirteen grinned. "It's good." She got another finger full of cookie dough and ate it.

"You're worse than Alex." She tapped Thirteen's nose and left a spot of flour on her skin. The funny look Thirteen got as she crossed her eyes to look made Cameron laugh. "I can't believe you've never made Christmas cookies before."

"I can't believe you just put flour on my nose." Thirteen wiped it off with her shirtsleeve then got Cameron back by putting some on her cheek.

"I'm not getting into this," Cameron said. "I know how it'll turn out. I'll be on the floor and you'll be dumping the bag over my head."

"You learn fast." Thirteen hoisted herself up onto the counter beside Alex and opened a bag of green and red M&Ms. "Do we need all of these?" She tossed some into her mouth then gave a few to Alex.

Sighing, Cameron smiled at her. "You are awful." She reached into the bag and grabbed a couple herself to eat. "Steal those from Thirteen and put them in the bowl."

Despite Thirteen's protests, Alex took the bag of M&Ms and dumped them in the bowl. He began doing his best at stirring again. "It looks really good."

"Yeah, it does." Thirteen grabbed another spoon and began helping him stir. She lifted the spoon and looked it over then licked off some of the dough. "Tastes even better than it looks. Try it." She held the spoon out toward Cameron.

Cameron was about to tell she wasn't going to lick it after Thirteen had her mouth on it but quickly realized how foolish those words were at the moment. She smirked and walked around Alex. "You're like a little kid." Resting an arm across Thirteen's legs, she took the spoon from her and licked it clean. "That is really good." She pulled back the spoon and looked at it before tossing it in the sink.

"I told you so." She rested her hands on Cameron's arm and kicked her feet back against the cupboard underneath the counter for a moment.

"Come on. Don't be lazy." Cameron patted her knee then walked away to grab the cookie sheet.

"I'm not being lazy, I'm being hungry." Thirteen slid down from the counter.

"Well, if you would help we could get these cookies done a lot faster and you'd have something to eat." Cameron grabbed a cookie sheet and put it on the counter. "Put yourself to good use." She handed Thirteen a tablespoon and motioned toward the pan.

"Bossy." Thirteen grabbed the spoon from her and put herself to work putting the cookie dough on the pan.

-----

They settled in front of the TV after the cookies were done. Alex fell asleep on a sleeping bag on the floor with a half-eaten plate of cookies beside him.

Thirteen had curled up on a chair. She thought about sitting on the couch with Cameron but decided against it. A quarter of the way through whatever movie Alex was watching, she drifted into her own little world and stared down at her hands. She was snapped out of it when Cameron got to her feet. "Where are you going?"

"To clean up." She picked up the plates they had been using and smiled at Thirteen before going into the kitchen.

Thirteen sat there for a moment before following her. She stopped before she got into the kitchen and placed a hand on the wall. Chewing on her lower lip, she watched as Cameron began to put things back where they belonged.

"You look like you want to say something." Cameron glanced at her and tilted her head to the side. "You okay?"

"I'm fine," Thirteen answered a bit awkwardly. "It's just…" She stopped herself. "It's nothing."

After drying off a spoon and putting it in the cupboard, Cameron turned to face her. She leaned back against the counter, placing her hands on the counter top. "Seriously," she said. "What's up?"

"I may have wanted to ask you something…" Thirteen glanced around the kitchen, looking anywhere but Cameron. "But I don't know what you think of this sort of things, so…" She forced an uneasy sort of smile and looked at Cameron then looked down at her hands.

Hit with realization, Cameron blinked a few times. "You're asking me out, aren't you?" She stepped away from the counter and brushed hands against her pants a few times.

"What?" Thirteen snapped her head up to look at her and widened her eyes.

"You're asking me out." She smirked and looked away from her.

"No!" Thirteen paused then lowered her voice. "Yes. It's just that, I don't even care that you'll never like me back."

"Remy." Cameron looked up at her again.

Thirteen avoided her eyes. "Just to be with you is enough."

"Remy." Cameron said her name a bit more slowly this time and took a few steps forward.

Thirteen swallowed. "These past few days, I wake up with an excuse to get out of bed, because I know I won't see you if I don't." She wrung her hands together in front of her and opened her mouth to keep going.

"Remy!" Cameron put her hands on her arms. "Stop talking so I can say yes."

Not sure if she heard her right, Thirteen took a few seconds to process the words. She grinned. "You could have saved me the embarrassment of saying all that stuff before I started talking."

"I liked what you had to say." Cameron glanced down almost shyly. "We could do something tonight."

"Can't." Thirteen sighed and frowned. "House wants me to go to a club and check out some band he hates. He thinks they're going to humiliate themselves and he wants all the detail."

"The band that got you arrested?" Cameron asked.

"Can we not ever bring that up again?" She groaned, "Yeah, that band."

"I could go with you," Cameron offered.

"I planned on drinking," Thirteen said slowly. She looked away from her again. It was the truth. It would be hard to go and not have anything to drink.

"How about we make a deal," Cameron said. "I won't be drinking, but I'll go with you tonight. Then maybe sometime we can do something that I'd like."

"Are you asking me out now?" Thirteen asked with a smirk.

"Maybe." Cameron grinned. "Are you saying yes?"

"Well, I'm definitely not saying no."


	10. I Wanna Love You

**WrongObsession:** -giggles- Glad you thought it was cute. Leaving people hanging is the best. Haha. And uh...you might have to steal Alex from Thirteen is you want him to be your best friend. Good luck with that! And Hannah Montanna is -gaaag- (Sorry for any Hannah fans out there!)  
**MuireannMcG:** Oh man...talk about an ego boost! My fic definitely isn't one of the best, but thank you so much for the compliment. It made my day. I so wish I could send this to TPTB and have them bring Cam back. -epicpout- And thanks for the luck!  
**Roronoa Robin: **Haha. Ah...Thirteen, Cam, Alex, and a little dog in a house by the beach. Totally my new fantasy. Teehee.  
**Ina:** Haha. I listened to Katy Perry like all day yesterday bc of you. xD Totally didn't mesh with trying to study for Western Civ! I'm glad you're able to picture it. Have fun with this chapter. Haha.  
**Nameless:** -jawdrop- .Ever! Bored?! Are you kidding?! I was sad when I realized there was no more to read! Haha. Sorry for updating twice. I debated on whether or not to wait for your review. It was a long internal debate. Heh. And yeah...Remy trying to overdose on Morphin3 (-wink-) woulda been quite sad. Making her drunk was all I could think of doing. Glad you liked the kiss...and the cookies. I sooo wanted cookies and M&Ms while writing that. And glad you like the whole family thing. I ran to a bunch of people asking them for advice on what they could do together to make it seem like that...and everyone was all, "Baking!!!" Haha.  
**Anonymousow:** Totally not discouraged. I'm thinking it was just a slow weekend. I was just sick and impatient. Haha. -SMILE-  
**Kirei28: **I'm glad you liked the baking/family part. It must have come across exactly how I wanted it to. Yay!  
**Vanamo:** You are so sweet. I'm going to start writing random stories and make you beta them just so I stay in touch with you. Heh.  
**Kills70:** Glad you're enjoying it!  
**Somuchfordepth:** Well, it's based and heavily scripted off a movie. I don't think I could have done it without that. Oh man...you make me scared to post this chapter. -shiftyeyes- And I've decided to come out on Thursday so I can tell everyone at once.  
**Amazon Life: **Sorry if I manage to confuse you. -fail-

Sorry if my story seems bipolar, Guys! I wasn't worrying about quality when I wrote it and just kinda followed my mood at the moment. Haha. So...my bad if things seem rushed or all over the place. I hope it doesn't make you like the story less.

And sorry if I missed anything while replying to your reviews. My friend is rushing me to go to the gym. Oh...and I'm working on a oneshot for y'all. -grin- I've been working on it...for several hours...so hopefully you'll like it when I post it.

* * *

Thirteen couldn't remember the last time she had gotten so dressed up just to go out and have a few drinks. She chose a black, halter-top dress that she hadn't worn in ages from her closet. Her hair had loose curls in it and she even broke into a stash of makeup. If there was one thing she wanted out of the night, it was to have Cameron look at her and actually pay attention. It wasn't that Cameron didn't pay attention to her, but she had no idea if the other doctor was attracted to her even in the slightest.

She had to remind herself to breathe as she knocked on Cameron's door to pick her up. When Cameron opened the door, she had to tell her own heart it needed to keep beating. The blonde had on a red, spaghetti strap dress that hugged her body in all the right places and her hair was pulled back nicely. She looked stunning. "Hey," Thirteen breathed, her eyes traveling down the other woman's body.

"Eyes up here." Cameron smirked and placed two fingers under Thirteen's chin, tilting her head up to look at her. "You look gorgeous."

"You look…amazing." It seemed like an understatement, but Thirteen couldn't find any other words. "You ready to go?"

"You bet."

The line outside the place was at least a block long. "How did House get you into this place?" They were met with flashing lights and loud music as they entered. There were two glowing, circular bars with seats around them directly in the middle and a large stage off to the side.

"I'm afraid to know." Thirteen stepped onto the glassy, blue floor and eased herself around those who were dancing. "Well, that's them." She looked at the guys on the stage. "They sound good." It came as a shock even to her. Their version of FloRida's Right Round didn't sound half bad. "Dance with me?"

Cameron laughed. "I thought we were just coming here to spy on the guys you're stalking."

"I'm not stalking them," Thirteen defended herself. "House is stalking them. I'm just trying to keep my job." She walked around back of Cameron and slid her arms around her waist. "As long as we're here, we might as well have some fun," she said.

"If you're this eager to dance with me now, I'm afraid to see you if you get drunk." Cameron smirked and turned to look at her. "You know this isn't something I usually do, right?"

"Well, lucky for you, this is something I do all the time. So if you stick with me, you'll make it through. I'm going to get a drink. If you're up for dancing, let me know."

-----

Left Lane Closed hadn't humiliated themselves as House had been convinced they would. Thirteen was impressed by their talent - especially after having heard their attempts at practicing the night she and House broke into their basement. Their covers of the latest by FlorRida, Lady Gaga, Black Eyed Peas, ect ect were enough that she had no complaints. Though, that could have been because before an hour had passed she had enough to drink to throw away enough shame to beg Cameron to dance with her. It had worked for two songs before Cameron convinced her that the band wasn't going to screw up and it was time to leave. Thirteen figured that Cameron just didn't want her drinking too much more. It was a bit disappointing, but she didn't argue.

"I am drunk," Thirteen announced, stumbling as she followed Cameron back into her house.

"I know." Cameron glanced back then stopped and shut the door behind her. "Which means I'm going to have to drive you home."

"I know you know," Thirteen slurred. "Because I just told you I'm drunk. You said I could." She blatantly ignored what Cameron said about taking her home.

Cameron laughed. "You would have been sneaking shots behind my back if I told you no. Drink some water. I'm going to get changed."

Thirteen followed her back to her bedroom. "Do you like me?"

"What am I going to do with you?" Cameron sighed. She smiled and sat down on the edge of her bed.

"I can think of a few things." Thirteen stopped in front of her, placing her knee on the bed between Cameron's knees. "Several things, really."

"I'm not going to take advantage of you," Cameron said. "You're drunk."

"Huh." Thirteen actually seemed to consider that. "We could fix that. You could get drunk too and we could take advantage of each other. It'd be fairer that way."

"As tempting at that sounds, I'm afraid it's not going to happen." Cameron smiled and shook her head. She patted Thirteen's leg then placed her hands behind her and leaned back against them. "You're going to try to seduce me until I take you home, aren't you?"

"Or until you give in." Thirteen smiled back at her, placing her hands on Cameron's shoulders.

Cameron supported herself with one arm as she tucked a strand of Thirteen's hair behind her ear. "And what do you think the chances of me giving in are?"

"Why don't you tell me?" Thirteen leaned forward and brushed her lips against Cameron's. "Do you like me?"

"Why don't you tell me?" Cameron sat up and little straighter and pressed her lips gently against Thirteen's. She slid her hands to Thirteen's hips as the brunette eased her onto her back. She met Thirteen's eyes and hesitated then moaned as Thirteen slid her dress up and pressed her knee against her panties. "You're going to be a tease, aren't you?"

"Maybe." Thirteen smirked pulled back and helped Cameron get her dress off. She unclipped the blonde's hair and slid her fingers through it then kissed her mouth again. "What do you want?" She began trailing kisses across Cameron's face to her neck and shoulders.

"I don't know." Cameron drew in a sharp breath as Thirteen's knee began moving in a circular motion against her. "I've never done this with a girl before."

"It's not too much different." Thirteen stopped moving her knee and kissed from Cameron's neck to her chest. She stopped and sucked on one of her breasts until the blond was squirming beneath her. She sat up straight and slid Cameron's panties off her body then spread her legs further apart. Thirteen kissed the other doctor's stomach moving from her bellybutton until she was kissing the inside of her thigh.

"You're teasing." Cameron whispered when Thirteen stopped and pulled back to just look at her. "Stop it." She gasped as Thirteen's tongue slid along the inside of her leg to her center.

"Oh, please. You like it." Thirteen kissed her stomach again then slid a finger into her. She grinned as Cameron made a purring noise and bucked up against her hand. "You never fail to be adorable." Thirteen smirked at her and slid her finger back and forth a few times, and then added a second finger.

Cameron twisted the blankets on her bed around her fingers and pressed down. She cried out in frustration when Thirteen stopped moving her fingers. "Remy!" She arched her back and attempted to push her body against Thirteen's hand to get her fingers moving again. "Please."

Thirteen swiftly maneuvered her fingers. "Faster?" she asked. Her hand picked up speed when Cameron whimpered in response. Remembering being rated a seven, she aimed for a 11.5 with Cameron.

"Remy!" Cameron cried out her name as she tensed around her. She squeezed her eyes shut and saw stars. Thirteen's fingers kept moving, letting her ride it out. "Oh Fuck." She made another mewing noise before slowly relaxing, her heart beating a mile a minute. Her eyes fluttered open again and she looked up at Thirteen.

Thirteen chuckled. That might have been the first time she had ever heard Cameron use that kind of language. She slid her fingers out of her then licked them off. "Mmm." Cameron's wide-eyed look as Thirteen tasted her made her grin. She hovered over her and placed a short, soft kiss on her lips.

Cameron kissed her back then took a few moments to catch her breath. "Your turn." She sat up and flipped Thirteen onto her back. Before the brunette could react, Cameron was straddling her stomach and holding her hands above her head.

Thirteen's eyes went wide at such unexpected actions. This was a rather new position. "Hey." She tried to pull her hands back down but Cameron's grip on them tightened.

"Nu uh. That's where they're staying." Cameron leaned down and pecked her lips then scooted off of her and worked her dress off.

Thirteen took the opportunity once her dress was off to move her hands and pull Cameron back so she was hovering over her again. She moved to sit up slightly but the blond pushed her down and her hands were suddenly up over her head again. Thirteen narrowed her eyes.

"I get to have my fun with you too." Cameron kissed her again. She made sure Thirteen didn't move with one hand and slid her other hand down her body, stopping at her chest. She began massaging her breast, muffling Thirteen's moans with her mouth. "Okay?"

"I want to touch you." Thirteen fought to get her hands free, needing to run her fingers through Cameron's hair, place her hands on her hips, anything. She grunted in frustration and glared at her.

"Too bad." Cameron smirked. "Keep them there or I'm going to stop." That seemed to be enough motivation to keep Thirteen from moving her hands once Cameron let go of them. She kissed the brunette deeply then trailed gentle, wet kisses down her body, letting her tongue slide over one of her breasts before resuming kissing.

Groaning, Thirteen clasped her hands together. "Cameron." She wriggled beneath her, trying to come to grips with the fact that she was this close to her. She was taking in everything from the way she smelled and tasted to every single movement she made. She was perfect. "Please," she practically begged.

Cameron slid her hand to Thirteen's center, massaging it for a moment before slipping two fingers inside of her. "Better?"

"Uh," was all Thirteen could manage. She stretched her hands up further and fumbled with air until she found the metal bars of the bed's backboard. Her fingers curled around the balls at the joints where the bars met and her hands began moving in tune with the rhythm of Cameron's fingers. She moaned loudly as she came, clutching the bed until her fingers turned white.

Cameron removed her fingers and leaned forward. She kissed her lips a few times then collapsed down beside her.

"I can't feel my arms," Thirteen complained. She rolled over onto her side and smiled at Cameron. "You are such a liar."

"Huh?" Cameron glanced at her.

"That is definitely not the first time you've fucked a girl." Thirteen smirked.

"College," Cameron muttered, glancing away.

"I knew it." Thirteen grinned triumphantly.

"I really do like you." Cameron rolled over, sliding her arms around her. Thirteen intertwined their legs. "Guess you're staying here tonight."

"Mm." She nuzzled her face against Cameron and closed her eyes. She could get used to this. She just hoped she could remember it in the morning.


	11. It's Not Hard To Fall

**Anonymousow: **-grin- Glad you enjoyed it! They so are cute together. -hearts-  
**Vanamo:** I kinda figured that. I just have a hard time keeping in contact with people unless I have a specific reason to. Chatting (no matter how much I love it) never seems to cut it.  
**OnTheHour:** Glad you like it. =D  
**Ina:** Haha. I think /anyone/ would remember having sex with Cameron, regardless of being drunk.  
**WrongObsession**: Ha. I was envious of Cameron while writing it. xDDD -issopathetic- Sorry about your mind...wait...that's a lie. Bahaha.  
**Nameless:** Huh. Essay...or Cameron/Thirteen sex. Is it /really/ a /bad/ thing you were focused on the latter? Lol.  
**Kirei28:** I think it'd be impossible to forget.  
**Focus Fire:** Haha. Sorry. I try to wait for people who I know are going to review...but then I get too excited to update!  
**Tortall101:** I don't think I'll be able to ever eat cookies without smiling after writing that. The recipe is nothin' but loooove. =D  
**Amazon Life:** Coherent thoughts are sooo overrated!  
**Miralinda**: Next day comin' right up! -grin-  
**Somuchfordepth:** Well...alcohol is an amazing thing when you need someone to act differently. Ha.

* * *

"I can't believe you would authorize this!" Cuddy and House stood outside of Alexander's room as the code-team left and the boy rested in exhaustion on his bed. The moment his health took a sudden, steep decline, a nurse had rushed to Cuddy and asked her where the two female doctors that had been caring for Alexander were.

"Really?" House asked. "Because it sounds exactly like something I would do." It definitely wasn't the first time he had given his work to other people to deal with. "Speak of the devils. You wanna deal with this?" He nodded to Thirteen and Cameron who were chatting as they approached.

Cuddy glared at him. "Dr. Cameron. Dr. Hadley," she said their names slowly.

Both girls froze and looked up. Cameron was the first to walk over to her. Thirteen felt rooted to the spot.

"What's wrong?" Cameron asked. She glanced in Alex's room, her eyes widening when she saw how sickly he looked. "What happened?"

As Cuddy explained the boy's health, House glanced over at Thirteen. The doctor was listening, but her eyes looked glazed over. It hit House that instead of coming to terms with her own issues, she had simply gotten attached to the kid. He almost blamed it on Cameron being there because Cameron was usually the one to get too close to patients.

"There's a good chance he won't make it," Cuddy stated. "I'm sorry that House not only allowed, but specifically told you to get this close to a dying patient."

For several seconds, Thirteen felt like crying. She was almost convinced she was going to just burst into tears. The grief was replaced by a numbness that started with her feelings then engulfed everything about her. She looked at Cameron, frowning at the unshed tears in the other doctor's eyes.

"You should say goodbye," Cuddy said. She rubbed Cameron's shoulder but Thirteen flinched away before she could be touched.

"I'm not going to say goodbye. There's still hope." Thirteen walked past them and into the room. She could sense Cameron following her, but she didn't turn to look at her.

Alex's eyes fluttered open as they entered. He managed a smile then coughed a few times. "Are you gonna finish the story?" His voice was quiet and he paused to breathe between words.

"You need to rest," Thirteen answered. She crouched beside his bed and forced a smile. "You rest and then I'll come back and I'll tell you all of it. I'll tell you everything right up to the end, okay?"

Alex nodded. "I'm sleepy."

"Take a nap then." Thirteen stood up straight and tucked the blanket Cameron had got for him around his body. She leaned forward and kissed his forehead then smoothed his hair with her hand.

"Mommy?"

Thirteen's breath hitched in her throat. "Yeah?" she choked.

Alex sighed and rubbed his eyes then smiled at her again. "I love you."

"I - I love you too. I have to go now." Thirteen turned around.

"Remy." Cameron put a hand on her back.

"Shut up." Thirteen shrugged her hand away and hurried out into the hall.

"Thirteen." House stopped her as she walked by.

"What could you possibly want, House?" She choked. The only way she wanted to talk to him was if he was going to say he was sorry for giving her false hope.

House reached into his pocket and pulled out a bottle of pills. "I'm going to give you these and tell you to start them tonight. Take them on a full stomach about an hour before you go to bed." He glanced up as Cameron walked out of Alex's room. "Oh, Wilson let your secret slip. Congratulations on the baby."

Thirteen spun to look at Cameron, taken aback.

"Oh no," House feigned upset. "Your girlfriend didn't know? I love relationships based off secrets and lies." He walked back toward his office.

Thirteen stared at Cameron. "So that's why you didn't want anything at all to drink last night or coffee this morning." Realization hit her. "I'm sorry if last night was -"

"I already told you, I had a great time last night." Cameron looked down, suddenly finding the hospital floor interesting.

"Why didn't you say anything?" Thirteen asked.

"I was trying not to think about it," Cameron answered. "I want to keep it, but I don't want to think about it right now."

Thirteen understood. She rubbed her hands together for a moment. "Do you still want to go out again?"

"If that's what you want." Cameron glanced up at her and smiled.

"I'll pick you up at seven." Thirteen winked at her. She walked off to find paperwork to do, needing her get her mind off of Alex. She knew she needed to do something big for Cameron so she could focus without getting distracted by the kid. She could deal with Cameron being pregnant when she could actually take the time to process it.

Cameron got off work at six and rushed to get home. She could sense something was off the moment she got to her door. She couldn't put her finger on it, but something was definitely different. She pulled her key out of her pocket and stuck it in the door then tried to turn the knob. It was locked. It made her nervous because she specifically remembered locking it before leaving for work. She turned the key again then the knob and slowly peered inside. She gasped.

The lights were off but the room was illuminated by candles that smelled like vanilla. Damien Rice's Cannonball drifted from her CD player. Her furniture had all been pushed neatly to the side and a round table with a fancy, black table cloth had been placed in the middle of the room. In the middle of the table was a vase with a single, red rose. Tears of appreciation began to well up in her eyes. "Are you trying to woo me, Dr. Hadley?" she asked when Thirteen entered the room.

Thirteen smiled at the overjoyed look on the other woman's face. "Is it working?"

"Yes," Cameron whispered.

"You should say no," Thirteen replied. "Because then I'll try even harder." She walked up to Cameron and grinned.

"No one has ever done anything like this for me before." Cameron wrapped her arms around Thirteen's waist and pulled her into a hug. "It's been such a long day. Thank you."

The sudden closeness took Thirteen by surprise. She hugged her back and buried her face against her hair for a moment. "I even made dinner without sneaking in takeout," she said with a smirk.

Cameron lifted her head. "How did you get in here anyway?"

"Well, you don't have to worry too much about burglars ever breaking in," Thirteen said. "Your lock is a bitch to get open."

"Remy, you picked the lock?" Cameron scolded, trying to keep a serious face.

"No," Thirteen defended herself quickly. "Okay, yes. Only because House misplaced his key though."

"He has a…never mind." Cameron shook her head. "Don't even want to know." She hugged her again, nuzzling her face against Thirteen's neck.

"As much as I'd love to stand here all night and cuddle with you, the food is going to get cold," Thirteen said. She paused. "Can I kiss you?"

"You're seriously asking me that after last night?" Cameron asked.

"I was being nice." Thirteen pecked her lips. "So, what does this mean?"

"What does what mean?"

"This." Thirteen motioned between the two of them. "Is it anything?"

"To me it is." Cameron smiled fondly at her.


	12. I'll Look After You

**Miralinda:** Glad you liked it. And happy I successfully managed to break a few hearts with Alex.**  
Anonymousow:** I think I'd die for a g/f like Remy. Haha. Olivia pwns.**  
WrongObsession:** Haha. I think I got jealous of Cameron while writing last chapter. This chapter might make you feel even worse for Remy. -shiftyeyes- Oh...and sorry if you didn't pick up the hint on Cam being pregnant. I guess I was rather vague.**  
FocusFire:** I love that I wrote the 'Mommy' part effectively enough to touch all of you. -smile-**  
Theorangegirlxx:** You're not horrible. And now you've reviewed, so you're epically great!**  
Tortall101:** Glad you like my Remy/Cam.**  
Nameless:** Alex is definitely adorable. I got very attached to him while writing him. Kinda thrilled I'm actually making people tear up with this. I was afraid things wouldn't come across as powerful as I want them to. - I told my dad. He apparently knew and so he pretty much just shrugged it off as w/e. He's gay, so it's not really a big deal for my dads and older brother. My dad won't let me tell the rest of my family until they got home and I can email them about it. -headdesk-**  
Amazon Life:** I didn't expect him to have so many fans! I'm glad he's coming across as cute as I wanted him to be. Remy hasn't really...I dunno. There's too much going on to really process Cam being pregnant. It woulda been TOO much drama to make her flip out over it, y'know?  
**Ina:** Like I said to Amazon Life, it woulda been too much drama at the moment to scare her away. Too much other stuff happening. Glad you liked the chapter!

* * *

Cameron had gone to take a shower after dinner as Thirteen focused on cleaning everything up. Everything was almost put away when the pill bottle on the countertop stole her attention. She leaned with her elbows on the counter, taking the object in - from its orange color to the way it felt to the shape and size of the pills inside. House said it was promising but any trust she had for House (which wasn't much to begin with) was thrown out the window after he told her Alex had hope when he didn't. She read the label multiple times, scanning but not really comprehending the directions, side-effects, and other information about the medication.

What if it didn't work? She tried to swallow but her saliva felt too thick to go down her constricting throat. She knew what would happen if it didn't. She'd avoid Cameron at all costs while trying to keep her dignity as long as possible. Her life would be in disarray, muddled with sex, drugs, and alcohol until suicide or worse - the disease progressing. The thought was sickening and it made her feel weak in the knees.

Leaving the pill bottle on the counter, she trudged over to a chair at the kitchen table and slowly took a seat before her legs had a chance to give out from under her. It wasn't even nine o'clock, but she suddenly felt exhausted. Letting her eyes flutter closed, she lowered her head to her hands and slid her fingers into her hair. Everything felt so surreal like she was watching everything from space and in a minute she'd hear her name and wake up.

She thought about Alex back at the hospital and felt sick wondering what was going to happen. It was almost like she was losing her own kid. She didn't want to think about it, but now she couldn't seem to get her mind off of it. She just wanted to bring him home and keep him safe and far away from death. She wanted to dissolve into her fairytale and have a happily-ever-after with Cameron and Alex.

It was another ten minutes or so before Cameron got out of the bathroom. She found Thirteen in the same position at the table and for a moment thought she had fallen asleep like that. It took a moment of standing in the doorway to realize her breathing was slightly erratic. "You okay?" She walked over to her then stood behind her and stroked her hair a few times before letting one hand rest on her back while her other hand fiddled with a pen that was on the table.

Thirteen drew in a breath and nodded. "Yeah." She lifted her head and pushed her hair out of her eyes then crossed her arms on the table and put her head down.

Cameron didn't push it. Her phone vibrated in her pocket and she pulled it out then held it to her ear as her fingers began to trace invisible designs on Thirteen's back. "What do you want, House?"

"I hope I'm not interrupting hot, lesbian sex," House answered. "Oh, wait, yes, I do."

She rolled her eyes. "You're disgusting. Is that the only reason you called?"

"It was the only reason I wanted to call," House answered. "Cuddy told me to call as a reminder for Thirteen. She didn't answer her phone so I called yours. I wouldn't have bothered, but Cuddy is standing next to me giving me her usual evil death glare."

"Thanks," Cameron said, "I think." Thirteen turned sideways in her chair and lifted her head so it was resting against Cameron's side. Cameron turned so Thirteen's head was against her stomach instead and slipped a hand under the back of her shirt.

Thirteen tuned out their conversation. She focused on breathing, trying not to think about death. She could almost hear the flat line on a heart monitor and her stomach rolled. "I'm not okay," she whispered suddenly, changing her mind.

"House, I have to go." Cameron snapped her phone shut and shoved it back in her pocket. "You could have said that to begin with." It wasn't accusing - simply a calm statement. She eased Thirteen back so she wasn't leaning against her then crouched down. "What's going on?"

Thirteen sat determinedly focused on her own breathing, the color slowly draining from her face. "I don't feel so good." It came crashing down on her that she was trying to start a relationship at the worst moment possible, not that there would ever be a better time. "What am I doing here?" she whispered, mainly to herself.

Cameron looked taken aback, misunderstanding the question. She pressed the back of her hand to Thirteen's forehead, expecting a fever. Instead, her skin was cool and clammy. "Remy," she said slowly. "You don't feel good because you're nervous." She glanced at the pill bottle then looked at Thirteen again. "It's okay to be scared, but this isn't the way to deal with it."

"I'm not scared." Those three words were quite possibly one of the biggest lies she had ever told in her entire life. The more she thought about having Huntington's and nothing to at least slow down the symptoms, the more terrified she became. "I think I'm going to be sick." She felt fused to her seat.

"Come on." Cameron slid Thirteen's arm around her neck then wrapped an arm around her waist as she helped her to her feet. She led her out of the kitchen and into the bathroom then helped her to the floor.

It was hard to breathe. Thirteen leaned forward on her knees, elbows on either side of the toilet as she supported her head with her hands. She could feel Cameron pulling her hair back away from her face but didn't have time to plead with her to leave. Her stomach muscles contracted painfully and she dry heaved multiple times before expelling the contents of her stomach.

Cameron tried to soothe her with a plethora of calming words. It hurt to watch her feel so miserable. When the vomiting eased, she gave her a rag to wipe her mouth off with then got to her feet. She got a cup of water from the sink as Thirteen sat back against the wall. "Take a few sips," she said as she handed it to her.

Thirteen obliged. With shaky hands, she took the water and hesitantly took a few, small swallows. "I'm going to go home."

"Right." Cameron shook her head. "You just got sick. The only place you're going is to lie down on the couch. I need to call House back." She flushed the toilet then reached both hands down to help Thirteen to her feet.

After taking a few more sips of water, Thirteen put the cup down then took Cameron's hands and got to her feet. She didn't put up an argument as the blonde led her from the bathroom to the couch. She laid down on her side and buried her face against her arm.

Cameron pulled the blanket off the back of the couch and covered her up with it. "Close your eyes." She pulled her phone out of her pocket and walked into the hall. After a glance toward Thirteen to make sure she wasn't going anywhere, she walked into her bedroom and called House back.

"House's house of complaining," House spoke into the phone. "State your complaint."

"I'm not calling to complain," Cameron said. She sat down on the edge of her bed and chewed on her pinky nail for a moment and leaned forward with her elbows on her knees. "I just called to talk."

House groaned. "Call someone else. Talk to Thirteen."

"She's sick," Cameron replied. "I think she's freaking out."

"Thirteen doesn't freak out," House answered simply.

"Which is why she's sick," Cameron said, rolling her eyes. "Maybe she needs to freak out."

"I know you're rolling your eyes," House commented.

Cameron frowned. "What do I do? If I let her take the medicine on an empty stomach, it won't even matter because she'll be throwing up all night long anyway."

"One, this conversation is annoying," House said. "Two, the logical thing to do would either be feed her or not let her take the medicine. Three, call someone else next time."

Cameron cringed as he hung up on her. She tossed her phone onto the bed then got to her feet and walked into the living room again. Thirteen was still on her couch but had her back to her. She walked over and sat down beside her, leaning over her so she could see her face. "I'm not going to talk to the back of your head, Remy," she said when Thirteen turned away. "Talk to me."

"There's nothing to talk about," Thirteen mumbled into the couch cushion. "I'm tired."

"I don't blame you." Cameron ran her fingers through her hair. God, she was stubborn. "How about this," she suggested. She leaned down so her chin was resting on Thirteen's shoulder. "Get up and take your medicine while I make us some toast and tea or something." She put her hand on Thirteen's and played with her fingers. "We'll eat again then go to bed. I'm tired too." She sat up and patted her arm.

Thirteen nodded and sat up too. "Sorry for ruining your night."

"You didn't ruin my night," Cameron replied as she led her into the kitchen. There was silence between them for a moment. "The pill bottle is still on the counter," she said finally. "I'll dig out the toaster."

"Right." Thirteen left it at that and walked numbly to the kitchen counter. She just stared at the bottle up until Cameron had toast in the toaster and water for tea in mugs in the microwave. She finally took one of the pills and swallowed it without anything to drink. It was going to be a long night.

-----

They both fell asleep on opposite sides of Cameron's bed. Cameron hadn't even bothered to change into her pajamas. She sprawled out on top of her blankets and was asleep before Thirteen was. She was out cold for almost a full three hours before something woke her up. At first, she wasn't sure why she was awake but then she felt the bed almost vibrating. She yawned and rolled onto her back then glanced at Thirteen. Thirteen was sitting against the backboard with her knees pulled close to her chest, shaking. "You're having a bad night, aren't you?" Cameron whispered.

Thirteen shook her head and lowered her face to her hands. Her breaths came in short, raspy gasps that occasionally mixed with choked back sobs.

"Hey." Cameron sat up and rubbed her eyes. "Why are you crying? You're not feeling sick again, are you?" She placed a hand tentatively on her shoulder.

Thirteen flinched under her touch. "I'm not crying," she denied it in a muffled, teary voice.

"Remy, you're shaking like a leaf." Cameron moved so she was kneeling in front of her, putting her other hand on Thirteen's other shoulder. "Take a few deep breaths."

"I can't," she whispered. She choked on a few more sobs. "It hurts to breathe." She shivered and tried to ignore the beads of sweat forming on her forehead. The room was spinning in circles and she couldn't stop crying or trembling.

"You're having a panic attack." Cameron gently pried Thirteen's hands away from her face. "You're not going to be able to breath with your hands covering your nose."

"I h-have as-asthma," Thirteen explained in between gasps. The oxygen in the room felt like it was running low and an overwhelming sense of dread washed over her.

"You're not wheezing." Cameron listening carefully to her breaths just to make sure. She placed her arm on Thirteen's knees and rested her chin on it, looking up at her. "Breathe in your nose and out your mouth. Slowly." She gently stroked her arm.

"You're making it harder to breathe!" Thirteen snapped and tried to push her away. "I look at you and I can't even - I can't, I can't…" She had no idea what she was even trying to say. "I can't. I can't. Damnit!" She scrunched up her face and smacked her head against the backboard of the bed a few times.

Cameron's eyes went wide and also filled with tears. She placed her hand behind Thirteen's head so she couldn't hit it and moved so she was sitting beside her. "Honey, stop." She pulled her to her lap, in between her legs and held her there. "Shhh, I have you."

"I don't want to die," she whispered. It felt good to say it out loud. "I don't want Alex to die. I don't want to die." Being that close to Cameron seemed to wash away the dread. It became easier to get air. She felt Cameron propping up pillows then leaning back against them. Thirteen leaned sideways, resting her head against Cameron's shoulder. She shuddered and gripped her shirt.

Cameron glanced down at Thirteen's hand. "I'm not going anywhere, Sweetheart," she assured her. She unclenched Thirteen's fingers from her shirt and brought her hand up to her lips. "It's my house. Where would I go?'

"I should move to the couch," Thirteen whispered finally. She gently pulled her hand away and sat up.

Cameron eased her back down. "We're both exhausted. Just let me take care of you. We can forget this ever even happened in the morning, if you want. Just close your eyes."

Thirteen nodded. She shuddered again then sighed and closed her eyes, curling up closer to Cameron as she tugged the blanket up over them.

Cameron sighed and also shut her eyes, both surprised and content Thirteen was letting her in past the walls she'd built up.


	13. Nothing Really Lasts Forever

**Miralinda: **I probably shouldn't be happy I'm breaking hearts...but I'm quite satisfied I'm getting the responses I was aiming for. I was sad writing last chapter. I pathetically admit, I cried all the way from last chapter right up until the very end of the entire story. My roomie probably thought I was nuts!  
**Nameless:** Like I said above...probably shouldn't be so thrilled I'm breaking hearts, but I'm quite happy with the responses I'm getting. It makes me feel like less of an idiot for crying while writing this fic. Hah. I finally told the rest of my family. They sent me a note that said, "Please keep your personal life to yourself." Huh. I'm not...one-hundred percent sure how I feel about that yet.  
**Ina:** Glad you liked the chapter. Thanksgiving is over now so uh...Happy Black Friday...?! Lol. That's almost over too. xD Happy space in between Thanksgiving and Christmas! There we go!

Huh. I'm surprised the break brings such lack of people! Breaks are usually when I'm most online, but...I hope you're all having a lovely time with your families getting fat off leftover turkey, pie, or whatever else you're eating! I thought about waiting until more people review, but tomorrow is my last day home so I won't be around and Sunday I'll be busy moving things back to school. I didn't feel like waiting for Monday. So...Enjoy!

There are 2 chapters left after this...so review _please_! And don't forget the last chapter if you haven't been around. -smile-

* * *

"Remy, wake up." Cameron shook her gently, kneeling on the bed. "We have to get ready for work."

"Mm." Thirteen rolled over onto her stomach and buried her face against a pillow. "Five minutes."

Cameron rolled her eyes. "You can sleep until I get out of the shower, but then you have to get up for work." She paused. "Are you listening to me?"

"Something about sleeping together in the shower at work," Thirteen mumbled. "Sounds good. Whatever you want."

Cameron sighed. "I'm not going to sleep with you at work, Remy."

"Tease." Thirteen grabbed the blanket and pulled it up over her head. "Lay down or go away." She snuggled closer against the pillow, drifting in and out of consciousness.

The first thing Thirteen thought when she actually woke up was that the night before was definitely worth forgetting. Admitting she was scared actually eased a lot of the fear, but acting like a lunatic in front of Cameron wasn't something she cared to flashback about. Prying her eyes open and squinting through the light in the room, she found herself alone. For a moment, she almost panicked that Cameron had abandoned her. The sound of shower water turning on calmed her and she realized how stupid her previous thought had been.

Stifling a yawn, she sat up and swung her feet over the edge of the bed. Too impatient to wait to see Cameron, she stood up then walked to the bathroom. Trying the handle, she found the door unlocked. Not making any noise, she opened the door just enough to squeeze into the bathroom then shut it behind her. She tiptoed to the shower then peered around the curtain. Her eyes widened.

Cameron had her back to her, standing a few centimeters away from the spray of the shower. She had one leg lifted slightly, supported by the wall and was moving two fingers in and out of herself at a quickened pace.

Thirteen smirked. She pulled her clothes off then stepped inside. In one swift moment, she lifted the shower head off the hook and turned it upside down then slid it between Cameron's legs.

Cameron squeaked and pulled her fingers out of herself. She spun around and would have fallen out of the bathtub if Thirteen hadn't caught her. "Remy!" Her cheeks turned bright red.

"I could get used to you screaming out my name like that," Thirteen teased, gripping her at the waist. "This is definitely something I never thought I'd see. Dr. Cameron playing with herself in the shower." She placed the showerhead back on the wall.

Cameron looked away in shock and embarrassment. "Well, I - you," she stammered, "What's it to you if I play with myself in the shower?" If it was even possible, her cheeks turned an even darker shade of crimson.

"It just doesn't seem very fair," Thirteen answered. She leaned forward and kissed her just below the ear. "What if I want to play with you in the shower?"

Cameron couldn't make words. She managed a flustered groan and closed her eyes.

"Wake me up next time," Thirteen whispered in her ear. "Have fun." She laughed and stepped out of the shower. Despite Cameron's protests, she wrapped a towel around herself and walked out.

"I tried to wake you up!" Cameron whined and hit her forehead against the wall then turned the water as cold as it would go.

-----

"That was mean." Cameron walked into the kitchen, dressed in jeans and a grey sweater. "Mean is an understatement." She sat down at the table and sighed.

Grinning, Thirteen placed a bowl of cereal in front of her. "I thought it was fun." She sat down with her own bowl of cereal.

"You would." Cameron shoved a mouthful of cereal in her mouth and pouted as she chewed. "First, you practically rape me then you leave me high and dry."

Choking, Thirteen nearly spit a mouthful of cereal all over the table. She leaned her head back and laughed. "You are such a liar." She flung a cheerio at her.

"And you are so immature!" Cameron flung it back.

"Who's immature?" Thirteen asked, grinning even more. "I'll throw it back."

"Nu uh. I know how this'll end," Cameron said, scooting her chair away from Thirteen. "You'll get up and dump your bowl over my head."

"My God, it was one time with snow!" Thirteen ate the piece of cereal they had been throwing at each other then returned her attention back to her bowl. She smiled and glanced at her out of the corner of her eye.

Cameron stuck out her tongue.

Thirteen shoved a spoonful of cereal in her mouth and chewed it then stuck her tongue out back at her.

"Ew." Cameron looked away. "Don't get cute."

"I can't help it," Thirteen replied coyly.

"Woah." Cameron glanced at her and giggled. "Ego alert. I thought you cracked that the night you went to jail."

"Ouch." Thirteen feigned offence. "That really hurt."

Cameron rolled her eyes. "Hurry up and eat. We have to leave soon."

The two of them found themselves playfully bickering all the way through the rest of breakfast and to the hospital. The fun and games stopped when Cuddy met them a few feet away from the entrance.

"Girls," she said slowly as if she was trying to choose her words carefully. "I'm so sorry."

Realization hit Cameron before it hit Thirteen. Tears stung her eyes and she ran a hand through her hair.

"He coded about fifteen minutes ago," Cuddy added finally. "You should go home for the day."

It wasn't until then that Thirteen got what she was saying. She braced herself against the wall and watched Cuddy walk away. It was a full minute or two before she turned her head to face Cameron. Thirteen's grief was almost numbed by shock.

"Heard your lovechild died," House commented as he passed by.

She ignored him. "I need to go find paperwork to do."

Cameron stared at her with tear-filled eyes. "What? You suddenly don't care?"

"He was going to die anyway," Thirteen replied. "You knew it. I knew. Everyone who worked with him knew it." The shock began to wear off. "You take everything so personally." Her heart was pounding in her chest and she fought back the urge to cry by chewing out Cameron. "You only get close to people because they need you."

"Stop it," Cameron muttered and rubbed at her eyes.

"It's true," Thirteen continued, "First House. Chase until he didn't need you anymore. Then Alex. Now me. Then when I die, you'll move on to someone else. That's the only reason you like me, isn't it? Because now I'm the only one around to need you."

"Stop taking your grief out on me," Cameron whispered. "Because you know what you're saying isn't true. You're trying to hurt me to make yourself feel better."

Thirteen knew she was right. "Sorry to burst your bubble," she spat. "I don't need you. Do you understand me? I don't need you and I certainly don't want you. This relationship would never work."

"Fine then." Cameron stared straight at her, lips quivering and tears running down her face. "Run away. Do what you always do."

"I will," Thirteen replied, "And you know why? Because I'm fucking great at it." She turned and walked away, wrapping her arms around herself to keep herself from quivering.

Sobbing quietly, Cameron just stood and watched her go for a moment. It couldn't end like this. She went after her and grabbed her by the elbow. "I am sick and tired of people treating me as if I shouldn't have any feelings," she said before Thirteen could respond. Her voice cracked and went up and octave. "All my life, I've just been a - an emotional punching bag to them. They think it's fine! I should just bounce back and not care about the last person who spent hours crying to me, or the last person who believed in me, or the person who spent hours with me then walked off without a backward glance! I won't take it anymore." She shook her head, shocked by what she was saying. Thirteen appeared shocked as well. She continued. "If you think you can just stand there and do the same thing, then you are sorely mistaken. All this time, you took me for granted. Even after I comforted you, helped you, did things for you. You led me on! And now you go on about things not working out." She choked over a sob. "Well fine. Go on. Leave. But I will never feel for someone what I felt for you."

Her words were like arrows through Thirteen's heart and each one left a separate mark. "Good. You feel too much anyway." She bit back tears. "I need to get my stuff from your house. Give me your keys."

"No." Cameron swallowed and shook her head. "Come on. I'll drive you."

Thirteen rolled her eyes.

"I'm going home anyway." Cameron dug in her pockets for her keys. "The sooner you get out the better." She dropped the keys on the floor, so upset she could barely hold onto them. "You're a jerk, Remy Hadley." She sniffled and rubbed at her nose then picked her keys back up and began walking.

"That's the best you have?" Thirteen asked, following. "You're a bitch, Allison Cameron."

Cameron lowered her head and muffled a sob with her hand. There was nothing left to say. She thought about saying she hated her, but it would have been a lie and Thirteen would have insulted her even worse. She couldn't even feel the freezing wind blow against her as she walked outside and to the car. Thirteen's words had completely anesthetized her. She got into the driver's side of the car and put the key in the ignition, trying to avoid Thirteen's gaze.

Thirteen glared at Cameron and hated herself. Alex was dead. He was dead. She never even got to finish the story. It repeated over and over in her head. Needing to drown it out, she hit the radio and cranked up the volume.

_Your subtleties, they strangle me  
I can't explain myself at all  
And all that wants and all that needs  
All I don't want to need at all_

Cameron waited for her to shut her door. She pulled on her seatbelt and stared at the steering wheel for a moment. "I'm sorry." Her words were drowned out by the music. With a glance toward Thirteen, she pulled out of the hospital parking lot.

_The walls start breathing  
My mind's unweaving  
Maybe it's best you leave me alone  
A weight is lifted on this evening  
I give the final blow  
When darkness turns to light  
It ends tonight, it ends tonight_

The roads were icy and it made Cameron nervous as she drove. Her hands were already quivering from being upset and the music was making her head pound. There were days when a person ought to go home, crawl under their covers, and close their eyes until the day was done. This was one of those days.

_A falling star  
Least I fall alone  
I can't explain what you can't explain  
You're finding things that you didn't know  
I look at you with such disdain_

"Remy, I'm getting a headache. Can you turn it down?" Spots had begun to appear in front of her eyes and she wanted to curl up and cry. She considered pulling over and calling Chase to pick them up and drive them the rest of the way back to her house.

"Don't call me that," Thirteen replied sternly. She left the music at the volume it was at and stared out the window. Just five more minutes and they'd be back at Cameron's house. "Damnit," she muttered as a stoplight turned red. Make that six minutes. It was guaranteed to be the longest six minutes of her life.

"Sorry," Cameron mumbled. She leaned her head back against the seat and stared up at the light.

_The walls start breathing  
My mind's unweaving  
Maybe it's best you leave me alone  
A weight is lifted on this evening  
I give the final blow_

Green. Finally. Cameron hit the gas and drove into the intersection. A car coming the opposite direction slammed on its brakes at the red-light on its side. Tires screeched and the car slid across the ice, smashing into the back of Cameron's car. Her car spun in a circle and busted through the guardrails. Her head hit the steering wheel and the next thing she knew, she was upside down. There was a crunching of glass and she couldn't tell whether she was screaming or Thirteen was screaming, but someone was definitely screaming. The last thing she remembered was pain everywhere and the sound of her own sobbing.

_When darkness turns to light  
It ends tonight  
Just a little insight  
Won't make this right  
It's too late to fight  
It ends tonight, it ends tonight_

The radio flickered off.


	14. Hit Me Hard Enough To Wake Me

**Anonymousow:** Glad you liked the shower scene. Teehee.  
**Ilessthreethanyou:** Sanity is completely overrated tho!  
**Nameless:** Yeah...I wish this story would never end either. I was crying when I finished writing it. Baha. -ispathetic- They're not really...putting me down. And -epicblush- Thaaanks.  
**Plethora:** Don't die!!! Gosh...I already killed so many ppl in this fic...don't need to be killing ppl outside of it too! Haha. I'd have to add you to my bodycount...which ended up pretty high by the last chapter. Thanks so much for reviewing!  
**Bigblusky:** Well...the accident wasn't /really/ her fault. The other car slid thru the redlight.  
**Wesley:** Ah! There you are! -hugs- That sucks that you were sick. I hope you feel all better! -sends Remy & Cam to fix you up!- Oxygen is overrated anyway. I vote we all breathe helium! Thanks for reviewing, Love.  
**Ina: **Things are about to go even more downhill too.  
**FocusFire:** Now I'm picturing you reading this and making faces that look like that. Lol.  
**Amazon Life:** They'll just have to learn to keep themselves from fighting. Heh. Glad you liked the morning part. Baha. I was afraid it'd sound as awkward as it felt while writing it. xD  
**Colorbars11:** What can I say...I'm a sadistic writer. Bahahaha. -evillaughter- Yay cruel cliffhangers!

So...We keep taking all these breaks between video games. So I thought I'd use my freetime to hit y'all with another update. I'm actually very anxious to get this fic over with so I can focus on a new one I'm doing...(also a Cadley fic).  
So...anyway. Here ya go! Review, please! One more chapter after this. I say 'so' too much. x-X  


* * *

Thirteen had hit her head off the side window and briefly blacked out. She woke up upside down, the car's hood crushed in so it was almost touching her head. She was oblivious to the outside world as she overcame the shock of the crash. It was the sound of Cameron's crying that brought her back to reality. It wasn't even crying. Cameron was practically yelling. She was sobbing Thirteen's name, gasping loudly for air. Turning her head painfully to the side, she cringed upon noticing Cameron was upside down too. Thirteen unbuckled her own seatbelt and fell to an awkward position on the roof of the car. She struggled to sit up then attempted to push the button on Cameron's seatbelt also. It wouldn't budge. "Fuck."

"Cameron. Hey." Thirteen twisted around. "Allison, look at me. Ally, I'm right here." Cameron stared forward with a glassy expression, seeming to look right through her. "Fuck!" Thirteen repeated. She turned and kicked out her window then slid out onto the snow. A cold breeze stung her skin and she left a trail of red across the white ground. She barely noticed she was bleeding.

"Are you okay?!" A man rushed through the broken guardrail and half ran, half slid down the hill their car had tumbled down. "Are you hurt?"

Thirteen ignored him. She didn't have time to deal with the guy who'd hit them just yet. When she did have time, he'd be the one that was hurt. She rounded the car to Cameron's side and grabbed the door handle. Placing her foot on the side of the car, she gave one good pull and it flew open. She was sent tumbling back onto the snow.

"I've had a year in med-school." The man rushed to them and got down on his knees, looking in at Cameron. "Shit."

Thirteen crawled to him and pushed him away. "Keep your year of med-school away from my girlfriend," she spat protectively, "If you want to make yourself useful, call nine-one-one." She knelt by Cameron and placed a hand on the side of her face. "Can you hear me?" She fought off panic when there was no response.

"What's wrong with her?" The man asked with two of the three numbers dialed in his cell phone.

"She's in shock, you idiot," Thirteen answered. "Call the ambulance." She took a few deep breaths then focused her attention back on Cameron. She knew the worst thing you could do was move a person before the EMTs arrived, but she couldn't leave her like that. "I'm right here," Thirteen assured her, trying to calm her down.

Cameron stopped crying out her name, but didn't seem to notice her presence. Her eyes were fixed straight ahead though she looked unfocused. She had a tight grip on her seatbelt, holding it away from her chest as she painfully struggled to get oxygen into her lungs. Her sobs slowly began to reduce to whimpers.

"They said there's a back up and that they're trying to get here as fast as possible," The man said. "A snowplow hit a tree and the road is blocked from one direction. Is there anything I can do?"

Thirteen felt around for her phone and dug it out of her pocket and threw it at him. "Find Gregory House and call him. If he doesn't answer, find Lisa Cuddy." She took her jacket off and put it on the ground beside the car so she wasn't on top of glass then lay down on her stomach to be closer to Cameron. "Allison," she said firmly. "I need something sharp to cut your seatbelt with. Do you have a pocketknife or scissors in your car?" No response.

"Thirteen?" House's voice went through speaker phone.

"Thank God," Thirteen mumbled. This was the first time she was ever so relieved to hear House's voice. "House," she breathed out, her own panic easing.

"Where are you?" House asked slowly. The tone of his voice let her know he could sense something was wrong and now wasn't the time to mess around. "What's that in the background?"

Thirteen knew he was referring to Cameron's whimpering. She looked over at her, pausing when she noticed Cameron's eyes had shifted in the direction of the phone. She was listening to House's voice. "There was an accident," she said quickly. "Cameron's hurt." She snatched the phone back and put it beside her.

"Dr. Hadley?" Cuddy's voice came through the phone next. "What happened? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Thirteen answered. "Some asshole flipped our car." She didn't care what language she was using with her boss's boss. She had more important things to worry about. "Cameron's hurt and the EMT can't get here. I can't get her out of the car." She hesitated. "What do I do?"

"You sound calm. That's good," Cuddy said. Fortunately, being calm went along with being a doctor. "Tell me what's going on."

Thirteen focused on breathing. "Go check the glove department for a pocketknife or scissors or something," she told the guy before looking at the phone. "The car's upside down. Cameron's in shock and I can't get her seatbelt off. Possible concussion and injured ribs." She reached inside, gently pressing her fingers down her neck then easing her away from the seat as far as she could and feeling down her back. "I don't think she has any spine injuries."

There was commotion in the background and Thirteen could just make out the voices of Chase and Foreman asking if things were okay. "Cameron," House said her name sternly. "Talk to us so they can help you. What hurts?"

"Everything," Cameron choked out. She couldn't tell what parts of her felt worse than the others. "R-Remy," she started crying again.

"Right here, Ally," Thirteen reassured her. She sighed in relief as she watched the guy pull a pocketknife from the glove department.

"Allison, Sweetheart, relax," Cuddy spoke calmly into the phone though her tone was slightly uneasy. "You're going to be fine. Dr. Hadley will help."

"Right now," Thirteen said. She shifted into an awkward position to support her as the knife began sawing against the seatbelt. "Don't let her fall." The seatbelt snapped and the two of them caught her before she could drop, easing her out the door and into an upright position. Thirteen balanced her on her lap, being mindful of her injuries. "This is all my fault," she whispered. "I am so sorry." She carefully ran her fingers through Cameron's hair, brushing it away from her face. Stroking Cameron's cheek, Thirteen tried to get her to look in her direction.

Cameron leaned into her touch and grimaced slightly from the pain then glanced up at her. "Remy," she mumbled.

"Is she out?" Chase spoke into the phone. "Is everything okay?" The next voice was Kutner's. Then Foreman spoke and everyone was trying to talk at once.

Thirteen ignored them. "It's okay," she whispered as Cameron's arms wrapped around her waist and she clung with a death-grip to the back of Thirteen's shirt.

Noticing Cameron shivering, Thirteen wrapped her arms loosely around her, trying to keep her warm without hurting her. She glanced up as the man slipped off his jacket and offered it to them. "Thanks," she whispered. The concern and regret in his eyes made her feel bad for snapping. She had watched the whole thing happening and it hadn't really been his fault. She took the jacket and wrapped it loosely around Cameron. "I am so sorry," she whispered to Cameron.

"I'll give you all my information and pay all the hospital bills. I'm sorry." The man shifted from one foot to another, shaking his head.

Thirteen stared at him then glanced away. She sighed at the ambulance lights on top of the hill then buried her face against Cameron's hair, ignoring the stickiness of the blood.

Cameron's head felt like it was going to explode and each breath she took was more painful than the last. She sunk down against Thirteen, trying to fight off the sick feeling in her stomach. "I d-don't f-feel good," she managed and her entire body went rigid in pain as she gagged.

Before Thirteen had a chance to ease her into a different position, warm stomach acid was already seeping through the front of her shirt. She didn't even care. Her heart was shattering for Cameron. "It's okay. It's because of the concussion." She slowly readjusted Cameron in her arms when her stomach stopped heaving.

It took several moments for the realization that she'd just thrown up all over Thirteen to sink in. "I'm s-sorry." Cameron's shoulders shook harder and she clenched her teeth in pain. She started coughing and attempted to cover her mouth. Pain shot through her chest and she felt like she was choking on air as she tried to apologize again.

"Stop saying you're sorry," Thirteen replied softly. She placed one hand on the back of Cameron's head and gently grasped her hand. "If I don't care that you just threw up on me, I'm not going to care if you're coughing on me. Stop trying to move, Ally, okay?" She stroked her hand with her thumb, letting Cameron dig her nails into her skin. She sighed and watched a stretcher be brought down over the hill.

Cameron sunk against her once more, the pain overwhelming. Her vision went blurry and she whimpered, fighting to keep her eyes open.

"No. No, you need to stay awake." Thirteen patted Cameron's cheek lightly. "Keep your eyes open, Ally. Look at me."

Cameron let her head lull to the side and everything went black.


	15. The One To Help Me Help Myself

**Anonymousow: **Yay for intenseness! Glad you're liking it!  
**FocusFire: **Well...I did have a friend have me do a body-count of all the people I killed in this entire fanfic. From beginning to end, there's a total of 131 dead. I think I may have beat one of my own personal records. Ha. I shouldn't be thrilled I made someone cry, but...it's kind of an ego boost that my writing could do that. -hands tissues-  
**Wesley:** I sat through the full minutes of silence as full minutes of not reading for the full effect. Baha. But then...I imagined someone squeaking "no" in a helium voice...and it ruined it. Lol. I don't think holding your breath is a good thing when you're oxygen deprived to begin with! -scolds- I think blinking may almost as important as breathing! Haha. You're "What now, dufus?" comment made me laugh. I felt like yelling that at her as I typed...but then I realized if you got technical, I'd be calling myself a dufus since I was the one writing.  
**Roronoa:** Being sadistic is great. Makes it fun to both torture the characters and the readers. -innocentlook- Your sister cut your hair while you were sleeping?! That's...sad. Even more sad you took tests as I devoured pumpkin-roll all week. -sends virtual Thanksgiving food-  
**Miralinda:** Being hungover caaan't be fun. -happy I don't drink- And, yes, Cameron is pregnant.  
**Ina:** Aw. But tragedy is so much fun! -looksinnocent-  
**Ilessthreethanyou**: Nah. Sanity is very much ALWAYS overrated. Addictions to my fanfics are good though. -wink-  
**Wonderous:** Baha. You should have read my notes. Some of them are there for a reason. xD Don't feel lazy though. Cause I never read notes either. -epicfail- Sorry 13 is out of character. I'm kind of a sucky writer bc I tend to do what I want...whether it's in character or not. Plus...I haven't been watching House for very long. I've only seen a few random past episodes and then this season. -shiftyeyes- Glad you're enjoying the fic tho!  
**Colleen:** I'm glad you're enjoying it. Sunshine and rainbows are too bright and shiny. Dark and twisty is more like it!  
**Nameless:** Wow. Sorry your trip was sooo long! How did you manage to be on the road that many more hours than you were supposed to??? I'll trade you issues though. I got to my dorm and it was like 90 degrees bc the heater broke and won't stop putting out heat. We opened all the windows and have the fan on...but we probably only lowered it a degree or two. I feel like I'm going to have a heatstroke or something. And...where would all the fun be without bad things happening in this chapter? -wink- As cliche as car accidents are...they do fix everything! I'm still undecided about my new story. It may get posted...may not. I don't know if it's worth posting or should be scrapped. I'm sure my beta will tell me though!  
**Amazon Life:** Being mean is fun. -sadistic smile- And yup...this is the last chapter. I'm sad to see it end...but there's not much else to do with it.  
**Bigblusky**: Fortunately, even though I'm sadistic, I don't leave my characters in /too/ much emotional distress at the end of my fics...uh...most of the time. -grin-  
**Kirei28**: Ha! There you are! Ok...so...your "Let her live" comment had me in shock for a few seconds. I had to keep reading over it. You'll see why in this chapter. It's just rather ironic that you used that choice of words. Anyway...Let 13 suffer? That's so mean. Baha. Yay for long comments!  
**WrongObsession (Chpt 13):** See...see...Yup. It's all your fault Alex died. All cause you didn't review. -wink- It's okay...I don't ask for forgiveness when I set out to write things that are depressing. Nope. Then I'd feel like I owed them something happy. -sadness-  
**WrongObsession (Chpt 14):** Leaving people hanging is fun! Cause then I get all these reviews begging me and telling me I'm mean. Makes life amusing. Haha. And I must keep you all on your toes. Though...I guess I coulda been even more mean and made you think I'd never do anything tragic...then suddenly do it and leave you all in shock. Hm. -will keep that in mind- And gosh...I even made you a virtual friendship bracelet! -refuses to give it to you now-  
**Anonymous Hysteria:** Awww. Don't you just love the suspense tho?!

So...I'm quite sad this is the last chapter 'cause this fic was my baby all month. I wrote it and posted it all in the month of Nov. What will I do during Dec now?! Oh yeah...school. Ew. I do have a new fic in the making. I have like...5 chapters so far. I'm still considering whether or not to scrap it. I'm afraid that since I don't have a storyline as straight as this one to follow that my characters will get too out of character and it'll just be a mess. That tends to happen with me. But anyway...There's a good chance I'll be posting it. It's titled Grazed Knees. If anyone wants to keep in touch or something until then (maybe force me to post it. haha), my AIM is on my profile.  
Anyway...HUGE thanks to Vanamo and my friend Hannah for editing this whole thing for me. They're both amazing. -hearts-  
Thanks for reading, guys. If you review, I'll still send you back the usual comments. I'm sorry that I can't do that to people who review anonymously...tho don't let that stop you from reviewing! I hope the last chapter meets your expectations. Enjoy!

* * *

The light was almost blinding when Cameron opened her eyes. Dull pain spread throughout her entire body. She felt nauseous and like her chest was being crushed under pressure. Squinting at her surroundings, she slowly began to register she was in the hospital. Tears stung her eyes and she took a few shaky breaths through her mouth as memories of the accident hit her like a ton of bricks. The rest of her senses were taking awhile to fade back in. It took a full minute or two before she realized someone was holding her hand and caressing her cheek. She slowly turned her head to the other side and faced Thirteen. "Hey," she mumbled in a raspy voice.

"Hey, yourself," Thirteen whispered. She forced a smile, a few tears rolling down her cheeks. Her eyes were red and puffy as if she'd been crying for awhile. She stopped stroking Cameron's cheek and rubbed at her own face. "You have a concussion and a few broken ribs, but the baby is fine. How're you feeling?"

"Like I have a concussion and a few broken ribs." Cameron managed a small smile. "Are you hurt?"

"I'm okay," Thirteen answered. "Just a few stitches." She had stitched herself up, not numbing the pain. She shuddered as she breathed, shook up by the whole situation.

Cameron glanced down at their hands. She furrowed her brows at the new cuts on Thirteen's wrists. They couldn't have come from the accident. "Oh, Remy," she whispered. "How long was I out?"

"A few hours," Thirteen answered. "I should go. You need to rest."

Cameron tightened her grip on Thirteen's hand. "Stay," she replied. "Tell me the story."

Thirteen looked at her like she'd lost her mind. "You need to rest," she repeated. She rested her head on her hand for a moment. "I need to go."

"Tell me the end," Cameron insisted. "I want to hear it."

"It's just a story," Thirteen replied. "It's stupid. It doesn't even matter."

"After the stuff you said to me, you owe me." Cameron narrowed her eyes.

"It's just something I saw in a movie," Thirteen replied, refusing to look at her. "I'll rent the DVD and bring it to you. It won't have a happy ending if I tell it."

"I still want you to tell it," Cameron replied. The tears in her eyes began falling down the sides of her face. "Please."

"Ask House to tell you a story," Thirteen replied.

Cameron looked disgusted. "I don't want _House_ to tell me a story." She glared at her. "You owe me."

Thirteen drew in a deep breath. "Remy doesn't really love Allison," she said. "She was just pretending."

"You're lying."

_Chase was looking through a telescope from on top of one of the blue buildings. "I see Governor House." He handed the telescope over to Foreman to look through._

_Remy stood beside them and took a swig of rum from a bottle. "Good."_

_"This mission is a trap," Foreman said. He handed the telescope back. "It's suicide for all of us."_

_"We're going," Remy said simply._

_"What is suicide?" Alex asked, looking up at him._

_The group of bandits gathered together and walked toward the middle of the city in the direction of Governor House's castle._

_Wallace poked his head out of Chase's bag. He climbed out and dropped to the ground then took off running._

_"Wallace!" Chase pulled his bag further up onto his shoulder and ran after him. "Wallace, stop!" He looked from Wallace then to what he was chasing. A butterfly._

_Wallace didn't look back. He jumped and grabbed onto the window of a building then began to climb his way to the top._

_"Wallace! Now isn't the time!" Chase continued after the monkey. The other bandits followed several feet behind. "What are you doing?!" He hurried into the building and toward the stairs that led to the roof._

_Wallace hovered on the wall of the roof, the butterfly just a few inches in front of him. He reached for the butterfly when one of the guards shot at him._

_Chase made it to the roof just as Wallace fell backward. "What did you do?" he whispered, rushing to the monkey. He knelt down beside his friend, tears stinging his eyes. He scooted over as Alex knelt down beside them._

_Wallace squeaked and slowly opened his hand. The butterfly hovered on his finger and flapped its wings._

_"Americana Exotica," Chase and Alex both said. Chase watched it fly away. "It's beautiful."_

_Wallace sucked in his last breath then slowly let it out. Chase and Alex began to cry._

"Does he really die?" Cameron asked, wiping away a few tears.

_Chase cradled Wallace in his arms for several moments then placed him back on the ground. He got to his feet and cried out in agony._

_The hundreds of guards that began to appear once they heard Chase scared the other bandits. They began to slowly back into the building. Allison stood where she was, yelling for Chase and Alex to follow. Foreman grabbed her and pulled her away._

_Chase opened his arms and faced the guards. "Go ahead!" he yelled. "Shoot me!" Alex stood confidently beside him. The guards shot._

_Chase's body fell from the building and into a lake below. Alex collapsed beside Wallace. Chase's jacket covered the boy and the monkey and his bag landed beside them. His things scattered and his pictures of Wallace, bugs, and other living creatures blew away in the wind._

"They die too," Thirteen choked. She noticed Cameron about to speak but cut her off. "They die too. It had to happen. All things die."

_The bandits ran for another building and the guards followed. One of them shot Foreman in the foot. He collapsed and nodded for the other bandits to go without him. He sat on the ground for a moment then pushed himself to his feet and began to limp forward. "Get back!" he shouted as the guards began to surround him. He led them into another building and pointed his gun. The guards surrounded him in a circle and pulled out their swords. Foreman smirked. He had them right where he wanted them. He unbuttoned his jacket then held it open, revealing dynamite. He lit one of the sticks. "Ka-boom."_

_The guards gasped and turned their backs, all of them throwing their hands over their heads. The building exploded._

_Just outside, the bandits fell to the ground from the force of the blast._

_Governor House was keeping tabs on them from his castle. "If you want to get something done, you have to do it yourself," he muttered under his breath. He turned to the nearest two guards. "Get them and bring them to me," he commanded._

_The bandits climbed to their feet and took off running, leaving Cuddy on the ground. They hid behind a wall and all struggled to catch their breath._

_"I don't like this story," Allison whispered. It made Wilson glare at Remy. They watched Cuddy get up and try to struggle toward them. "Why did Foreman kill himself instead of coming with us?" Allison cried._

"He couldn't do that." Thirteen wiped at her eyes. "He gave up. It's not very satisfying, is it?"

Cameron choked back a sob and shook her head.

"He didn't think so either," Thirteen mumbled.

_The guards approached Cuddy and began to kick her, step on her, and hit her. They repeatedly knocked her over as she tried to get up._

_"Leave her alone!" Allison cried. "Why are you hurting her?!" She became frantic. "We need to help her!"_

_The guards laughed and continued to beat the mystic._

_Allison couldn't take it any longer. She rushed forward to help. Wilson ran after her and grabbed her around the waist to pull her back. Guards saw the two and shot at them. Arrows went into Wilson's back as he leaned forward to protect Allison. He stumbled forward, pushing Allison to the other bandits. They were running away._

_As some of the guards began to hit Cuddy with their swords, the other guards continued to shoot at Wilson. He passed Allison off to Kutner once he caught up with them._

_"I'm sorry!" Allison cried, staring at Wilson as more arrows stuck through him. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!"_

_Remy grabbed her and put a gag in her mouth. She tied it loosely behind her head. "Stop it."_

_Wilson fell backward onto the arrows sticking out of him. Allison was watching in horror and Kutner turned her around so she couldn't look._

_"Googly! Googly!" Cuddy was pushed against a tree as the guards hit her with the backs of their swords. "Googly! Googly! Googly!" A sword was stabbed through her stomach._

_Kutner glared at Remy. He grabbed Allison by the hand and dragged her away from the scene. Remy stood staring at Wilson._

_A small smile crossed Wilson's face and he nodded. "It's okay." His eyes slowly shut._

_Remy ran after Allison and Kutner._

_The bandits approached a tall building. Remy threw a rope to the top and the hook on the end caught on the wall. They began to climb: first Remy then Allison then Kutner. They were halfway up the rope when the guards caught up to them and four of them began to follow. Remy got to the top and reached her hand over to pull Allison onto the roof of the building with her._

_Allison looked up. The roof had walls but no ceiling. She stared at the sky and tried to catch her breath then ran to another window to watch. "Kutner!" she sobbed through the gag as one of the guards grabbed his leg. She brought her hands to her face and peered through her fingers. "Kutner…"_

_Kutner looked at her and nodded his head. He pulled a knife from his pants and held it up. He cut the rope._

_"No!" Allison screamed._

_Remy turned away for a moment, trying to keep herself under control. She turned back just as Kutner and the four guards hit the ground. An anguished moan escaped her lips and she covered her eyes with her hands. They couldn't stay there. She straightened up and grabbed Allison by the hand, dragging her from the building._

_"No! No! No!" Allison followed her outside then broke away from her grasp. "No!" she sobbed, her entire body trembling._

Cameron's face was a sickly white color and she stared at Thirteen with wide eyes. "Why are you killing everybody?"

Thirteen sobbed and looked away.

"Why are you making everybody die, Remy?!" Cameron demanded.

"It's my story," Thirteen defended herself, shaking her head.

"Mine too," Cameron whispered, choking over the words.

_"Bring me Remy and Allison," Governor House repeated to the guards. "And bring them to me alive."_

_Remy approached Governor House from the side. She walked confidently and Allison followed. "We're right here." She pointed two guns at him. "And we're alive." Her hand trembled and she dropped one of the guns._

_"Don't pay attention to it," Allison told her. She glanced up at Governor House took off running._

"This story isn't even about House, is it?" Cameron asked. "It never was. It's about your Huntington's. You could have just named Governor House as Governor Hunter instead." She glanced at Thirteen's trembling hand. "Don't pay attention to it right now, Remy."

"Quiet," Thirteen spat.

"You've only taken medicine once." Cameron reached out to touch her.

"Shut up!" Thirteen pushed her away then smacked her hand down on the bed.

_Remy ran after Governor House and Allison followed several feet behind. Remy entered Governor House's garden, but he was nowhere to be seen. She ran past his hiding place. He jumped out in front of her and hit her in the face!_

Cameron sucked in a breath and flinched as Thirteen's hand stopped about an inch from her face. The sudden breath sent sharp pains through her chest. She cried out and leaned forward in attempt to ease the hurt. Her head spun from the sudden movement and she gripped the blankets as she cried out again.

_Remy was bleeding from the nose. She hovered on the edge of the pool in Governor House's garden. Governor House pulled out a sword and…_

"Wait! Wait," Cameron pleaded, shaking uncontrollably. "I don't feel good. Wait. Please." She was gasping for air, cringing with every struggled breath. The pain was too much and she began gagging, managing to push herself further into a sitting position and over the basin on the table.

Thirteen didn't wait for her.

_Governor House punched Remy and she fell backward into the pool. She sunk and Governor House placed his sword on the edge of the pool. Remy didn't even try to swim. Governor House looked down at her and pulled off his jacket._

Cameron moaned as she sunk down against the back of the bed and slowly wiped at her mouth and nose. "You're being a jerk, Remy."

"I'm not being a jerk," Thirteen defended herself. "She started to sink and she was dying." And it was true. Thirteen had started to sink and she was dying. Not only was she dying because of her disease, she was dying because of the choices she was making.

_Governor House jumped in the pool and held Remy under the water._

"Let her live," Cameron pleaded.

_Allison stood at the edge of the pool. "Get up!" she yelled through the gag in her mouth. It muffled her words. "Remy, get up and fight!" She cringed as Governor House pulled Remy to the surface before hitting her and shoving her back under. "I'm scared for you."_

_"Get up." Governor House pulled Remy just above the surface. "What a shame! Get up!" He shoved her under then pulled her up again. He turned to face Allison. "Look at her! Look at her!"_

_"Get up!" Allison yelled._

_"I want you to see how pathetic she really is," Governor House said._

_"I can't get up," Remy cried._

_"Get up!" Allison repeated._

_"I can't get up!" Remy yelled back at her._

_Governor House rolled his eyes. "For God's sake, the water is only waist high."_

_Allison reached behind her head and untied the gag. "Get up, Remy!"_

_Governor House shoved her back under. "Look at her! She's a drug addict and a drunk and a coward! A useless, good for nothing…"_

_"Get up!" Allison was screaming in anger now. She stood rigid at edge of the pool, digging her nails into the palms of her hands.  
_

"She can't win," Thirteen cried. "That's because the masked bandit is a coward. Yeah, she never even took an oath. She's a fake and a liar and a coward."

"You're lying," Cameron accused.

"Nu uh," Thirteen replied. She wiped at her tears. "She had her fingers crossed. She has to die."

Cameron scrunched up her face to avoid more crying. Crying led to more pain and she wasn't sure how much more she could take. "I don't believe you."

"She was dying," Thirteen insisted.

_The water was turning red with the blood coming from Remy._

"Don't kill her." Cameron shook her head. "I will do anything to help you."

_"Get up!" Allison yelled again._

"Don't kill her," Cameron begged.

Thirteen hid her face in her hands, shoulders shaking. "There's nothing left for her."

"Her girlfriend," Cameron replied.

Thirteen shook her head. "She wasn't her girlfriend."

"She loves her." Cameron reached over and hesitantly stroked Thirteen's hair, helplessly watching her cry.

Thirteen crossed her arms over the bed and buried her face against them. "Remy loves her too, but Allison will survive. She's strong."

"I don't want you to die, Remy," Cameron cried. "Not like - not like this. Don't kill her. Let her live." She sniffled and tried to find other words. "Let her live. Don't kill her." She closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the bed, trying to breathe. She sobbed and pressed the palms of her hands to her eyes.

Thirteen lifted her head. The pain she was causing Cameron slapped her in the face with one actual look at her. She got to her feet and eased Cameron forward. Being mindful of her injuries, she slid down behind her and gently pulled Cameron back against her chest. Wrapping her arms around Cameron's stomach, she hid her face against her hair and sobbed a few times. "I won't."

"Promise?" Cameron asked. "And don't cross your fingers." She gripped Thirteen's arms, afraid if she let go that Thirteen would disappear.

"I promise," Thirteen mumbled.

"Hold up your hands," Cameron demanded.

Thirteen lifted her hands and spread her fingers apart as far as they would go.

_Remy stood up from the water and punched Governor House in the face. He stumbled and fell backward against his sword._

Cameron gasped. "She doesn't need to fight anymore! She needs to go to her girlfriend."

"She's scared," Thirteen whispered. She lowered her head to Cameron's shoulder, hiding her face as she tried to pull herself together. The tears kept coming and she squeezed her eyes shut tightly to stop them, ashamed of what a mess she was.

"Hey." Cameron turned her head to look at her. "Rem, look at me." Ignoring the pain, she reached over and gently lifted Thirteen's head from her shoulder. Looking at Thirteen's tear stained face and listening to her trying to hold back sobs left Cameron at a loss for words. Cameron placed a hand on the younger doctor's cheek and kissed her softly on the lips.

After a moment of hesitation, Thirteen kissed her back. Cameron's tenderness was enough to send Thirteen's fear packing. She pulled away and leaned her head against Cameron's. Feeling Cameron snuggling closer to her, she sighed quietly and closed her eyes.

_"It's okay." Remy got out of the pool and rushed toward Allison. "It's alright. It's over now." She pulled her into a hug and kissed her cheek. "Come on." _

_Allison let out a breath of relief and hugged Remy tightly. She pulled back and placed a hand on Remy's cheek as she smiled at her._

_Remy smiled back and took Cameron's hand. They laced fingers and walked away, glancing up at the sky._

_Alex watched down on Remy and Allison from his spot in Heaven and waved. So that was how the story ended._


End file.
